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Quotable: They Said It
“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.” – Albert Einstein
“Buying the right computer and getting it to work properly is no more complicated than building a nuclear reactor from wristwatch parts in a darkened room using only your teeth.” – Dave Barry
THE FLIP-FLOP FLAP AND CASUAL DRESS CODES
You’ve probably seen in the newspapers, newsmagazines or morning talk shows the now-famous photo of Northwestern University’s national champion women’s lacrosse team during their visit to the White House a few weeks ago. If you haven’t, it’s famous because four of the nine women in the front row are wearing flip-flop sandals.
Their choice of footwear has caused something of an uproar around the country, as people take sides on whether or not it was disrespectful for the women to wear flip-flops to the White House.
I figured it was only a matter of time before casual dress made it back into the news! The relevance for those of us in the business world is that – due to the recent heat wave in many parts of the country – what’s appropriate to wear to work when it’s hot out is a hot topic.
It’s been observed that as companies became more relaxed in their corporate dress codes, the behavior among employees can become more relaxed, too. That’s good if you’re trying to promote a relaxed atmosphere among your staff, but bad if you’re trying to represent something more buttoned up.
Here are some tips for a good corporate dress policy:
- Get employee input. Staffs tend to respond better when they’ve had some say in a new or revised policy.
- Link the policy to corporate values. The policy is more likely to “stick” if it is related in some way to deeply held corporate values.
- Keep it simple. Some companies have boiled it down to a few simple rules, like no jeans, no open-toed shoes and no shorts. The more specifics you include in your policy, the more time-consuming it will be to gain compliance.
- Be consistent. Staff notice when a policy is applied to some people more strictly than others. Make sure that you are consistently applying whatever policy you use.
- Put it in writing. Corporate dress codes and all other policies should be in writing. Make sure you review them with prospective hires so that they know about your policies in advance, and review them with current staff annually or when they’re changed.
Before adopting any policy, you should check with your in-house counsel or your attorney about the implications of having a formal policy, as well as the specifics of yours. Good luck!
TOP BUSINESS BOOKS: YOUR SUMMER READING LIST
As mentioned in the last issue of Leadership Update, people often ask me if I’ve read the latest bestselling business book. Like many of you, my favorite “business books” aren’t necessarily books about business. So I asked you, and visitors to my website, for the titles of books that have made the biggest impact on your leadership style.
Here’s what you told me:
The Art of War, by Sun Tzu
Blue-Collar Journal, by John Royston Coleman
The Business of Writing and Speaking, by Larry M. Robbins
Careers by Design: A Business Guide for Graphic Designers, by Roz Goldfarb
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In, by Roger Fisher, et al.
Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, by the Graphic Artists Guild
How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
Leaders, by Warren G. Bennis and Burt Nanus
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun, by Wess Roberts
Selling the Invisible, by Harry Beckwith
Sins of the Fathers, by Susan Howatch
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey.
Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II, by Robert Kurson.
The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff
The 5 Great Rules of Selling, by Percy Whiting
Who Moved My Cheese?, by Spencer Johnson
Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, by Studs Terkel
MOVIE NIGHT FOR LEADERS
What movies have inspired your leadership style? Your decision-making preferences? How you treat employees or peers? How you want to be viewed by others. Drop me a note at david@weimanconsulting.com and I’ll include your choices in a list of the movies that have impacted our subscribers most.
ABOUT DR. WEIMAN
David A. Weiman, Psy.D. is a psychologist who specializes in executive assessment, development and consultation. For information or a confidential consultation, please call 610/642-3040.
333 East Lancaster Avenue, Suite 202
Wynnewood, PA 19096-1929
(610) 642-3040; Fax (610) 642-3041
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Reader's Forum: Your Observations
Have a comment about something you read in this month's newsletter? I want to hear it! Mail it to: comments@leadershipfirst.com. If you’d like me to use the question on my website or in a future issue of Leadership Update, let me know and I’ll include it!
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Copyright © 2005 David A. Weiman, Psy.D., Weiman Consulting
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