DRESS FOR SUCCESS
OR
HOW CAN DWARVES DEFEAT A DRAGON?
GEORGE WILSON ADAMS CPA MBA
February 6, 2023
"You can never be too well-dressed or too well-educated."
Oscar Wilde
Remembering Past Lessons
During the Covid pandemic many office employees started working from home in their pajamas. There was less need to shave, dress in appropriate business attire, fix your hair, and comply with generally recognized sartorial standards. That era is coming to an end and many employees nationwide are being called back to work.
John T. Molloy's 1975 classic Dress For Success is a must read-book that will help returning workers resume normal standards of business attire as well as conduct and etiquette. Over the two plus years of the pandemic many people have become rusty in these important skills.
One of Molloy's most important points is that how you dress should reflect what you do. Plumbers, carpenters and lobstermen each have their own version of a work uniform. It's the same with people who work in a business environment. The truth is that all workers, regardless of what they do, wear some kind of uniform which proclaims their identity.
Dressing for success means wearing appropriate clothes and also avoiding inappropriate clothes. Younger people who have not yet been fully socialized into business work environments may need help with this. It is a generally recognized principle of law that employers may stipulate appropriate attire for their employees as long as such policies are not discriminatory. For gentlemen, crisp white shirts are iconic.
For formal, high-stress office environments (including days when you know in advance the Boss is going to be in a bad mood) dress shirts should be heavily starched - press to impress! A heavily starched shirt feels almost like wearing armor. As formality and stress decrease so too may the degree of starch used on a dress shirt.
An important 2004 article in Psychology Today ("The First Impression") explained how its takes 20 to 32 seconds to create a favorable or unfavorable impression on a neutral observer. It may take hours, days, weeks, or a lifetime to undo an initial unfavorable impression.
It's not good enough to merely wear good clothes that are appropriate for the environment you work in. Even more important is how you conduct yourself, including overall etiquette and demeanor. Balance confidence with modesty, respectability with individuality, and good taste with the degree of courageous flamboyance that matches your personality.
In the final analysis, all this advice about how to succeed by dressing well misses the most important point of being a person: Dignity is what clothes you when you stand naked before a mocking crowd. I learned this lesson in a 6th grade locker room. You can't buy dignity and you can't fake it by wearing expensive clothes. Thus, clothing is merely a tool and not an end in itself.
How Can Dwarves Defeat a Dragon?
Yes, I really am going to answer this question.
In ancient mythology dragons are routinely depicted as powerful and ferocious creatures, wreaking havoc and destruction on all who oppose them. It seems absurd that dwarves, commonly represented as short, stout creatures, would ever be able to bring down a dragon. But dwarves had a secret that allowed to resist and kill even the largest and most powerful dragons.
One of the greatest fantasy writers of our time was J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion. The world Tolkien created was filled with dragons, dwarves and many other creatures. In one memorable story Tolkien shows how the warrior Turin wore a fire proof dwarf mask and was able to defeat the vicious dragon Glaurung. His combat mask was a message that communicated fey disdain. See:
https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Dwarf-masks
The hideous and terrifying dwarf masks intimidated dragons, and allowed dwarves to exploit the 'fear factor' to defeat fiery monsters a thousand times their size:
The fundamental psychological truth behind dwarf masks is simple: if you look scary then people, including dragons, are likely to believe you.
George Adams
Certified Public Accountant Master of Business Administration
Tel: (207) 989-2700 E-Mail: GeorgeAdams@IntelligenceForRent.com
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Brewer, Maine 04412-2339
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