Okay, I know what you’re thinking…not exactly the type of career style recognition you were looking for, right? But there is much more to learn here than meets the eye.
Danielle from We Wore What looks adorable in her whimsical striped tee. It’s fun. It’s flirty. It’s perfect on her. And it’s part of her job to take fashion to its limits. She’s a personal style blogger and in order to stand out in her chosen field she must visually provoke her audience. There are a million and one shots on blogs of girls wearing stripes, but Danielle was extra savvy in her choice, allowing her to separate herself successfully from the masses. Her style strategy worked…tweets, shares, pins and repins…connections galore are plentiful certain to lead to increased opportunities in her career.
You need to do the same at work!
Style is one of the ways you should lean in as a professional rather than lean back. Just go for it! It is a business tool you can and must master (whether on your own, reading great style blogs or hiring a talented stylist). And it’s always a good idea to get inspiration whenever and from wherever you can.
Case in point…unless you’re a personal style blogger or work in the fashion industry, obviously your fashion choices will be different from Danielle’s and appropriate for your specific career and workplace, but your style strategy should be the same.
Do you agree it’s vitally important for you too to stand out as a professional in your field, department and company? It goes without saying your sharp skills set and innovative ideas come first as a way to grab higher-ups attention and create more business opportunities for yourself, but make no mistake fashion has its powers too.
You’re entitled to have attention and it doesn’t have to be over-the-top to make a positive impact on your career.
Believe me; even small, becoming, unique style updates make a big impression! For example, it’s perfectly acceptable to participate in similar fashion trends as your work colleagues, but I highly recommend distinguishing your take on a specific trend. Managers are always looking for self-confident appearing, independent thinkers to help them take the department to the next level. So something as simple as opting to wear a different on-trend shoe is a form of leaning in. If your fellow female co-workers are all wearing black or nude Tory Burch ballet flats perhaps you can opt instead for something on-trend, but more dynamic, such as a textured, red Sigerson Morrison flat. Appropriately differentiating yourself and your style at the office…it works!
In today’s über competitive marketplace you need to take advantage of all the tools available to you and honing your professional style at work is certainly relevant and worthy; as are you…just lean in and get noticed!
How do you ‘lean in’ and distinguish yourself with your style at work? Please share!
Image credit: We Wore What. Graphics by Kristina Moore for Corporate Fashionista.
I totally agree, style is one of the ways we should lean in as a professional rather than lean back and yes, i agree with this too that it’s vitally important for us too to stand out as a professional in our field.
I wouldn’t worry too much about what to wear and I would focus more on working hard and being known for what I bring to the table. Just wear what I am comfortable in and try to match what the others wear as much as possible. Also, it’s always a safe bet to aim for more professional rather than less professional. I don’t think you can go wrong with that. Be confident and proud of who you are and great things will happen!
I love your words of encouragement for women to be confident, proud and hard working, but I agree wholeheartedly with corporate fashionista that “leaning in with style” can make a woman both feel and appear confident to her various target audiences. For example, watch Anne-Marie Slaughter on Fareed Zakaria’s CNN Sunday talk show (5/5/13); she really wore the talk!