John Thain’s Tarnished Image As He Exits Merrill Lynch

Stories about the unraveling of Wall Street’s one-time wunderkinds and winners keep shooting like cannonball fire. Today’s casualty in the war on Wall Street is Merrill Lynch’s John Thain, ousted from a now infamously plush office that was redecorated as the company was busily firing employees. Certainly this is not how a top Wall Street executive ought to make his career exit, espeially when his career entrance and ascendence were filled with such promise.

Were I John Thain’s image consultant, you may think my concern would be whether his selection of suits, shirts and ties projected his appropriate visual image. You’d be correct. But executives at this level need more than a butler; they need to rely on trusted advisers to ensure their choices are practical. After all, someone heading up a multibillion dollar corporation needs other people to help manage details like whether or not his own office needs to be redecorated while the company is laying off employees and while asking the government for a bailout loan. Acting out of a sense of entitlement can tarnish an executive’s image. At times, I have advised clients to exercise restraint out of respect for dire circumstances. In this case, Thain’s office makeover was ill=advised, as it wasn’t paid for out of his own pocket.

Corporate chiefs will always earn many times more than the average employee. The perceived value CEOs deliver to shareholders and to companies substantiate their salaries and stock options. Executives should take an interest in their personal growth, especially during these challenging times when everyone’s leadership is being tested. It can only add value to their level of professionalism.

Designing your image is the secret science to your success.

Joseph Rosenfeld helps professional men and corporate workgroups create effective visual brands. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.

Keeping Up Your Personal Brand During This Economic Downturn

If only the Silicon Valley economy was tied to the abundance of the chemical element used to make many of its products, we’d fare better than other areas of the country. However, as the state of the economy has ushered in a new era of reassessing the value of everything, your workplace value is also subject to scrutiny. A smart way to support your workplace significance is to ensure superiors, peers, or clients see your strengths “on your sleeves.” When you dress to support your professional goals you develop a brand for yourself, giving your audience insight into your qualities, traits, and characteristics.

How do you go about creating this unique appearance? Well, a little secret is that it begins not by shopping for clothes, but by assessing your style personality, goals, and lifestyle. Next, a closet review takes your style from theory onto your body, ensuring what you continue to own is in your color palette, fits right, and adequately supports your personal brand. Your personal brand will develop over time and as you identify how to turn your style into your visual signature. A consistent hairstyle, particular jewelry, a selection of eyewear, specific clothing silhouettes, fabrics, fits, even distinctive footwear can be used to help create a look that is uniquely yours and supports your strengths.

Working with a professional and certified image consultant can help you develop character and confidence, helping you to overcome obstacles and stay competitive during this challenging time. Rather than seeing this as a time to lay low, now is the time to be more visible, more visual.

Designing your image is the secret science to your success.

Joseph Rosenfeld helps professional men and corporate workgroups create effective visual brands. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.

Showing Up Appropriately is Better than Just Showing Up

It’s the end of a year most of us would describe as ‘tough’. Regardless of how one would characterize one’s circumstances, it’s blatantly obvious to onlookers when today’s current cultural malaise translates into pure sloppiness on individuals everywhere.

A concern friends share is about being judged negatively by my discerning eyes when we get together for dinner or for an event. I insist that unless they’ve engaged me, I’m not there to pass judgment. While this is true, it is also true that if people are in my line of vision, I am going to have a look! It’s a curiosity of mine to see how people present themselves to the world.

Why is it that a woman finds it acceptable to carry a great bag while the rest of her outfit is in shambles? Somehow the bag makes up for the disaster she’s wearing? When I observe this combination, it makes me immediately question whether the bag is even real. It may be a totally unfair characterization, but if I’m questioning this as a professional, think of the numerous average people affected by the very same impression.

Just back from vacation on the Hawaiian island of Maui, a place where dressing casually is customary, I was hardly surprised that even the finest restaurants on the island do not require formal attire. While staying in the luxurious Wailea area, it was easy to spot countless women who forgot all about putting themselves together for their $150 per person dinners but they managed to drag out their designer handbags. But where were their coordinating shoes? What about their outfits? With all the spas and salons in every hotel property, it was inexcusable to see so many women turn out for a chic presentation of cuisine without looking a bit chic – albeit still casual – themselves.

And the men! If the women are having so many image issues, you know the men are not far behind. There are fewer obvious resources available to men. The silk print short sleeve shirts of a ubiquitous fashion seem to fit overweight men better than they are attractive or stylish for nearly any man. Men need to do a bit of work to individualize themselves, but once they do a little ‘style soul searching’ (perhaps even with my expert help) they’ll be able to even travel to Maui looking casual and chic when it’s appropriate to show up that way.

There are many times in our day to day lives when just showing up is not enough. Put effort into showing up appropriately, and enhance your social experiences.

Designing your image is the secret science to your success.

Joseph Rosenfeld helps professional men and corporate workgroups create effective visual brands. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.