Last week, I gave a talk last week to the women’s initiative at a major technology company, and one of the women in the audience, a women with very long beautiful hair, asked me, “You spoke about hair in the section of your talk on visual branding. In my company, all the senior women have short hair, at least a lot shorter than mine. A colleague advised me that if I wanted to go up the corporate ladder here, I need to cut my hair too. What do you think?”
I don’t want to make too much about hair and hairstyles. After all, we all have good and bad hair days, and key to success is a reputation for business results. Nevertheless, hair is a potent branding device. What your hairstyle says about you is something that you need to think about.
Historically, in many parts of the world, your hairstyle indicated status in society or what you did for a living. Even in America in the early days, our Founding Fathers wore wigs in the European style of the aristocracy. That’s why it was so revolutionary – and raised eyebrows – for Benjamin Franklin to throw out his powdered wig and wear his hair unadorned – straight gray hair hanging down loosely. In France and England, where Franklin represented the colonies and later our fledging country, Franklin and his hair came to symbolize the independent, frontier American spirit.
In the corporate world even today, there are expectations for both men and women in terms of hairstyle and clothing. There is quite of bit of leeway in terms of personal choice. But, bottom line, if you aspire to be a manager or corporate officer, it is important to convey executive presence and project authority. And your hairstyle can help or hurt you in conveying authority.
You must look like a good representative for the company brand the higher up you go. Likewise, there’s truth in the old saying, “You have to look the part to get the part.” For women in many companies, having a long “Alice in Wonderland” hairstyle or a Dolly Parton “big hair” look, will undercut you. Some people won’t take you as seriously.
Now, that doesn’t mean you have to have a really short hairstyle. I believe it’s important to be who you are – to be authentic – but you have to be “appropriate” and “authentic.” So if you have overly long hair, you may want to keep it in an updo at the office to convey the right image.
Look at women leaders in your company or in the larger business world. For example, Fortune magazine publishes a list of the top 50 women in business each year. Indra Nyooyi is #1. Look at the pictures of the women leaders and you’ll see a range of hairstyles from very short to a few inches beyond shoulder length. There is a lot of individuality and attractiveness displayed, but all the hairstyles contribute to branding the women as authoritative leaders. Let me hear your thoughts.
