Dressed for the part…

My wife and I just returned from vacation.  We visited our niece Lisa and nephew David in the Ocean Park area of Maryland.  Due to Covid, it was the first time we flew on an airplane in over 3 years. 

During our visit my nephew David noticed even in retirement and dressed casually, I see many things through the lens of business.  After a full career I guess that's something not easily turned off.  It's fun though (for me at least).  In business, especially in the sales profession, things are often not what they appear.  It takes a keen and disciplined view, or as Yogi Berra put it: 

            You can see a lot by observing. 

Saturday evening we went to a free concert in their community.  The outdoor patio area was, as Lisa would say, "bumper-to-bumper" with people; their cars in the parking lot; and boats in the marina.  Eclipse, a Journey cover band played from 6 to 10 pm.  They had the Ocean Pines Yacht Club rockin'!  I was dressed for the part: 

In addition to the great music and even better company with Lisa and David, I always get a kick from people watching.  I especially enjoy watching those from my generation who are…  well … old.  We don’t think of ourselves as old and my wife hates that description.  She prefers "seniors" or perhaps "elderly", but never "old". 

At the outdoor venue with perfectly warm weather one, gray-haired lady was dressed casually for the part including a walking cane.  She was sitting near us and enjoying the band with a group of "seniors".  To the casual observer she might have appeared… well… old.  Some might even have had concerns whether she would be too frail to walk back to the parking lot.  However, when the band played "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard, not only was she on her feet dancing with her friends, but I was close enough to see she was enthusiastically singing along.  She knew all the words!  Truly, my generation rocks! 

That evening I received several compliments about my shirt.  My niece wondered if I brought it on vacation specifically because of the concert.  I replied it was part that, and part coincidence.  After thinking about it further I realized my nephew had something in his comment about my business lens.  You see, throughout my sales career I was always trying to "dress for the part". 

I'm not sure how it works in today's modern, virtual, work-from-home business settings.  You don’t see many men suited up; wearing a necktie; sporting polished Wingtips.  A former Generation X colleague of mine once said, "Gary, I'm in software sales.  I don’t even own a tie let alone wearing one to work."  

Not only did I suit-up most of my career, but I even added suspenders back in the day when I was selling Oracle Financials (version 1.0 in 1989).  The software was expensive and buggy as hell - but I was dressed for the part.  I suppose Oracle wanted our prospects to feel our software was more mature and reliable than merely "betaware".  Oracle sales execs set the tone and we all added suspenders to our suit, tie, and Wingtips attire. 

Today, about the only people you see wearing suspenders are those from my generation who are … well… old.  But if you observe them carefully I bet you will see - they can still rock! 

                                                            GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.