Why I Wear Ties to Work
And Why I soon May Start Wearing a Suit
When the casual Friday craze finally made it to my conservative employer, you could not find a bigger fan. At the time, I was a brash young 30 something programmer who insisted on telling anyone who would listen that what I wear to work has zero impact on my ability to perform my job. Years have gone by, and I am older and, at least I hope, wiser now. I have now come to the conclusion that I was about as wrong on this topic as I could have been. What I wear DOES have a huge impact on how I perform my job. Along with that, how I care for myself, how I keep my workspace, and even the car I drive do too. But that is not the reason I have recently started wearing more formal business attire to work, although I may touch on a few of these things in closing.
The biggest contributor to my change in attitude came about as a direct result of the Occupy Wall Street movement. I’m sure you are wondering how that would impact someone’s style of dress, unless they were forced to spend time near or walking by these people. Then I guess an obviously wardrobe accessory would be a gasmask, since many of them lived on the streets without showers or other modern sanitation conveniences. I imagine the smell was, well, robust. Well, to tell new the truth, what has sparked my change in the way I dress had nothing to do with the hygiene of people exercising their constitutional rights, but rather, their obvious vitriol and hate that they directed at the so-called 1%. In other words, you average successful businessman.
Our society has turned into one in which hating the businessman (or woman – I use the term without gender implications) has become quite fashionable. And that is pathetic. Why should someone be ashamed to be in business? Business provides jobs, moves capital, and, in short, actually redistributes the wealth that the so-called 99% claim is being hoarded. Think about this for a moment – when was the last time you saw a profile of a successful businessman in the media, one in which the profile is designed for the reader to admire the subject? Did they focus on how he or she runs her business? I would bet not. More than likely, they spoke endlessly of all the philanthropic work that that person does. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But, take Bill Gates for example. We are constantly deluged with statistics about how great Bill Gates is, because the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has built schools in Suriname, or brought water to a poor village in Mexico. That is wonderful. But lets look at Bill Gates’ greatest contribution to society. Bill Gates, along with others, has created literally MILLIONS of jobs, and employed, directly or indirectly, and uncountable number of people, launching fantastic careers and providing great salaries for many many years now. But we don’t want to celebrate that, his greatest contribution to society, because, in the process, he somehow managed to make a lot of money. We will, however, celebrate his giving that money away. Money he wouldn’t have if…Aw, you get the picture, at least I hope you do.
My point is, there is nothing wrong with being a businessman. Sure, there are those like Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, Bernie Madoff and Alan Stanford. But there are also bad people in Government (John Edwards), Sports ( Michael Vick and Jerry Sandusky) the Clergy (Donald Roemer and Gilbert Gauthe), and I’m just scratching the surface. Just like any other vocation, for every bad person, there are hundreds, if not thousands of good people. So why are we ashamed to be in business? We once had a President famously say that the business of America is business. And while that may still be true, you would have a hard time convincing a visitor from another planet of that. With no exposure, I’m sure they would believe that the business of America is entertainment. Really, that’s the only people we seem to admire anymore. Singers, Musicians, Actors, Athletes (yes, they are entertainers) are the only people who get positive press these days. Not only do they get positive press, but they also seem to get a “pass” for some of the most asinine behavior imaginable. Really, when was that last time you heard about a group of pharmacy salespeople trashing a hotel?
We’ve gone so far, that we’ve even tried to change our language to distance ourselves from business. People are no longer “managers” and “directors”. Instead, we call them “coaches” and “leaders”. As my old friend Bill the Cat would say, “Blech”. I’m a manager, and I’m proud of it. I refuse to hide what I am by trying to dress like a Coach in a polo shirt and cotton pants. Nor will I dress like an artist, actor, or unemployed person. I am in BUSINESS. I am a BUSINESSMAN, and I am proud of it. I work for a great company, I have a great career, and I have nothing to hide. So I will wear my oxford shirt and wool pants to work, along with my silk tie, because that’s how businessmen dress. I proudly don my wingtips, nicely polished, and wear my French cuffs and cufflinks. I will wear my suit. And I will be proud of who I am!
I've also learned some things since I've undertaken to "dress the part" that have been both surprising and rewarding. In my next post, I will touch on these. Maybe you'll be bored, but then again, maybe you will learn something like I did. Until then, Good Night and God Bless!
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