Friday, September 13, 2007

The Clothes in Your Closet
Might Be Holding Back Your Career

By Linda S. Wallace

The clothes we wear may give away our deep dark secrets to strangers we pass in the night and to our co-workers.

Ever since I was old enough to buy clothes, I have filled my wardrobe with rich browns, deep beiges, black and spicy mustards. The colors of clothes in my closet, as I eventually discovered, reflected the routine and predictable behavioral patterns in my life.

In Philadelphia, a magnet for master chefs and trendy cafes, I regularly dined at the same 10 restaurants, shopped at the same 10 stores, and read a steady diet of books on the same topics: African American culture, psychology, marketing and business.

Then, two weeks ago, I opened the doors to my closet and it was awash in color: bright oranges, lime green, pinks and metallic silver. I tracked the dramatic change in my wardrobe colors to a single store from which I had made purchases during the last six months. I remarked upon this color transformation to John, a business school graduate who serves as a fashion therapist a my favorite new boutique. He grinned broadly. “That makes me so happy. “You see, after my partner (Susan) and I first met you, we sat down and wrote down our career and fashion goals for you. We wrote: Needs more colors in wardrobe.”

John and Susan felt I needed to add these colors to reach the next level in my career and achieve my full potential. Somehow, he sensed that my predictable clothing choices might reflect other behavioral patterns that were holding me back. And he was right.

By getting me to add a few more greens and blues, he hoped that I might break free of these patterns and try on a few new changes in my life.

Did it work?

Well, four months after I started introducing burst of color into my career wardrobe, my house is up for sale and I am moving my business from Philadelphia to Houston. I find myself actually looking for restaurants I’ve never visited before. I am meeting interesting new people. My business is transitioning from crisis communication to cultural communications, which is my life’s passion. The clothes I have bought of late seem to reflect this awakening.

Did I begin to choose bright colors for new outfits because I had some type of psychological breakthrough? Or did these bold colors boost my confidence and give me a new attitude?

Before you completely dismiss that notion consider that Dr. Morton Walker, in his book The Power of Color, suggested that the ancient Egyptians as well as the early Native Americans used color and colored light to heal.

Colors are used by hospitals to assist patient healing. Manufacturers routinely use them to boost employee productivity. They have found that certain colors can reduce eye fatigue and boost product quality. Creative people, meanwhile, are found to be most creative in gray environments. African warriors used war paint to frighten enemies while in other cultures the color red is used as a romantic allure (and to make people want to eat more).

Dr. Walker writes: “Starting about 1910 near the time of Henry Ford, testimonials have been taken from industrialists on how certain colors reduce workers’ eye fatigue, lift spirits and improve quality in all kinds of hard-goods manufacturing. Accidents have been reduced, too. Certain colors used in hospitals have helped speed the recovery of patients and raise the efficacy of action of medical and nursing staffs. Students and teachers have reported that in school, concentration is assisted, energy is stimulated and eye fatigue is retarded by particular colors, such as varying shades of green and blue.”

Color is an issue that belongs on the agenda of every diversity council. As workplaces become more diverse, the importance of having a color strategy is magnified. As classrooms become more diverse, students’ reactions to their effects must be explored as part of the process of learning. As those new to the workforce enter mainstream workplaces, they and their peers must fully understand how clothing colors affect those around them.

Scientific data and information provide us with powerful tools that make diversity work. Too often, they are overlooked by managers who blame race, gender or sexual orientation for differences in outcomes without ever considering other possibilities.

The assumptions we make reflect the quality of our research and the depth of our analysis so let our choices showcase our intelligence.

Read More: The Power of Color by Morton Walker