Dorothy Waldt is interviewed here on The Business Shrink Radio show. Dorothy Waldt is a Partner with CTPartners, a premier executive search firm committed to performance, quality and results. Dorothy Waldt was recently quoted in a front page story in the Wall Street Journal which touched on where we are in American business today, regarding wardrobe, attire, costume, and dress. If you have ever wondered how you should dress for an interview, sales meeting, press event or sales meeting you will definitely find insightful points from Dorothy Waldt as she reveals the state of dress in America today.

 

Segment 1

Peter: Good afternoon to you from The Business Shrink, Peter Morris. The Business Shrink is Peter Morris, and he’s off taking care of business today. He’s deputized me to sit in for him. I’m Peter Laufer. I am pleased to be here, and this is going to be a rollicking hour of important and intriguing hour of information. You can be sure because it deals with attire, business dress, how to dress for success. We are lucky to be joined by Dorothy Waldt, who is a partner at CTPartners, which is an executive search company, headquartered in New York. Are you there Dorothy?

Dorothy: I certainly am, Peter.

Peter: Well, it’s terrific to have you here. I have so many things I want to ask you, to try to get some sense of where we are in American business today, regarding wardrobe, attire, costume, dress. We come to you because you were quoted in a recent story in The Wall Street Journal that was so extraordinarily well-read, because this is a real touchstone, isn’t it? People don’t know what to do.

Dorothy: Actually I was kind of surprised at the response to that article. I was happy to see it on the front page, but I didn’t really know that people cared that much. Frankly, I was very happy to see that people do care, but I was surprised at the confusion of a lot of people.

Peter: Yes, people not only care – they just don’t know what to do. In fact, that’s one of the reasons why I want to offer the telephone number early in this hour, in case there are members of our audience who want some expert advice on what to wear to that job interview, what to just wear on the job, and – maybe most importantly – what not to wear. The number is 888-454-3378.

Now, Dorothy Waldt, I asked you to grab a copy of The New York Times. Do you have one handy?

Dorothy: I have it in front of me.

Peter: Today is an important day, of course, in the life of your governor, Elliot Spitzer, because of the trauma that he’s going through based on his alleged actions that are inappropriate, but the reason I thought it would be interesting to look at the front page of the paper is because there is what is almost an iconic photograph, now, taking up most of the space above the fold. It shows him at a podium, along with his – at least for now – his wife.

Dorothy: <laughter> As we would say, “the incumbent wife…”

Peter: That’s right – “stand by your man.” Now, assess, if you would, what she’s wearing. Is this the appropriate costume for the moment as her husband, the governor, announces that he, in fact, acted inappropriately with a prostitute.

Dorothy: You know, I’ve got to tell you that’s a tough one. I don’t know that there is an appropriate costume or dress for this because this is obviously such a difficult time for the two of them and for her in particular. There’s really kind of not a right or wrong. I’m glad she wasn’t in all black, because you don’t want it to look any more bleak than the news already is. You can’t see her full outfit, so I can’t tell if she’s wearing a skirt or a pair of trousers. I’m glad to see her in some color. I’m glad to see her wearing something around her neck.

Peter: Now stop for just a second. Why, first of all, the color? It almost looked to me a little bit too dashing and frivolous. Describe that color.

Dorothy: It’s kind of like a powder blue, and I wouldn’t call it frivolous at all because she’s clearly wearing – again, I can’t see if she’s wearing trousers or a skirt, but she’s got a dark bottom. It’s not as though she’s in flamboyant colors. If she came out wearing fuchsia or bright yellow, it would be very inappropriate.

Peter: Sure. And the thing around the neck – why was that valuable to you?

Dorothy: I like to see her wearing something a little feminine and not looking like a man. Do you know what I mean? I mean this is a woman who obviously has been hit or blindsided with her husband’s behavior. This is going to be extremely difficult. It’s got to be very humiliating for her to be standing there, so for her to look a little bit feminine with what looks like pearls around her neck, to look like a woman… I’m glad she’s not looking like a woman and frankly also not trying to bury herself in the background.

Peter: Yeah, she’s right up there at the podium. Now, let’s look at his attire for a second. He’s got to have shoulder pads there. He’s no Arnold Schwarzenegger. Right?

Dorothy: <laughter> Right.

Peter: I mean that suit has some shoulder pads, doesn’t it?

Dorothy: Yes, but he particularly, I believe, wears big shoulder pads, so I don’t know if that was a choice or not, but yes.

Peter: Then the red power tie with a suggestion of some kind of club or university element, if not real, then just suggested with those diagonals. How’s that? How did he do?

Dorothy: Yes. You know, there’s nothing that he could wear right, because obviously he’s really in the doghouse. I don’t know that I would have picked that bright red tie, and I certainly would not have picked – I don’t know if you’ve seen the close-up in the Metro section, but there’s a close-up, and on his lapel, he’s wearing a pin that has an American flag and some other emblem there. That looks gratuitous to me. It really does. It probably flies in politics, but that looks gratuitous to me.

Peter: It’s fascinating to hear you analyze it this way. This is The Business Shrink. The Business Shrink, Peter Morris, is not here today. I’m Peter Laufer, pleased to be sitting in for him and to be talking to Dorothy Waldt, a partner at CTPartners, an executive search firm, as we discuss attire and the importance of attire to getting a job, keeping a job, and presenting yourself properly.

In a few words, Dorothy, how come we haven’t transcended attire? How come we can’t just do the blue jeans and t-shirt?

Dorothy: Well, I don’t think we should I think how we’ve been sort of taught as Americans growing up, that your clothes don’t matter. Clothing actually does matter, and you can either gain or have a lot of power or give a lot of power based on what you dress like. Now, a lot of people think that means, “I have to wear expensive clothes,” or “I have to very, very buttoned up and conservative.” Not at all! You can look powerful wearing casual clothing or inexpensive clothing. It’s just about really having your own personal style.

Peter: Can you choose then to look powerful by the way you carry yourself, by your body language? In fact, in some cases, the very fact that your wardrobe is counterintuitive to business can accentuate your power?

Dorothy: Not really. I like to use this analogy a lot. Let’s say in business, if you’re going to give a report to somebody that you’re doing business with – like maybe a potential client – that report is going to be buttoned up. That report is going to look good. It’s going to represent your brand. It’s going to be tidy. The pages are going to be neat. It’s going to be well thought out, well laid out. The same is really true with your dress.

If you have a high power job, and you have a lot of authority, you don’t want to look like a slob. You don’t want to have clothing or shirts that are wrinkled, and things like that…unless it’s the correct environment. Even within environments, there are people that succeed in the way they dress for their office and people that are so successful.

Peter: So, is it a truism that it is always better to dress up a notch than dress down a notch? If you’re not sure of what that environment is going to be, it’s better to be slightly overdressed than to be slightly underdressed?

Dorothy: Pretty much, yes. There used to be the rule, especially if you went on a job interview, that you should be in a suit and a woman should be in a skirt. It’s not like anymore. Now there are a lot of companies where casual attire is the norm, and you can actually do yourself a disservice if you overdress for those types of companies. The best thing is to err on the side of caution. If you don’t know and if you think that the company probably has a more conservative or more suited type environment, then wear a suit. If you know the company to be casual, then you’re probably actually better going business casual as opposed to getting into a suit.

Peter: Maybe we’ll define business casual as the hour progresses, and I want to offer your expertise to the audience. If you have questions about attire, business costumes for meetings and for job interviews, call 888-454-3378 to get in touch with us here at The Business Shrink.

Now, Dorothy, I was at a meeting, an important meeting, in Berlin, a couple of weeks ago, and there were four of us in the meeting, four men. As I cased the joint trying to get a sense of what I thought I ought to be doing and how, with my posture and my presence, I noticed something regarding accessory. I’m looking for your advice here – the other three – one American and two Germans – of the four of us, three had cufflinks on. There I was with the plain old shirt with the buttons. Does that make a hill of difference? It really stood out to me, and I felt myself with a certain amount of self-consciousness. We were all suited up, spiffed up shoes, socks that didn’t pill – all of that – but I didn’t have cufflinks.

Dorothy: Uh-hmm. It makes a difference because, as you said, you felt self-conscious. It can make the difference if you can’t overcome your self-consciousness. That’s the issue there. I think everybody understands within themselves when they look good, when they don’t look good, when they look right in the environment, and when they don’t. Right?

So the issue is that if you enter an environment and you find that you are dressed incorrectly – even if it’s down to the cufflinks – or if you find that you are completely dressed incorrectly, then you kind of have to overcome that. Other people may or may not recognize your gaffe, depending on how big it is, but then you need to overcome that. The best way to overcome that is to really ignore it.

Peter: Or draw attention to it, right? Because another event that I remember was a meeting in Chicago and I woke up in the morning at the hotel, went to the closet, got out my suit, and realized that, in fact, the pants and the jacket had been on separate hangers, and I’d only brought the jacket from San Francisco. I had the nice shirt, albeit with no cufflinks, the nice tie, the jacket, and I only had blue jeans. I didn’t know what to do. It was an extraordinarily important meeting. I called up the fellow with whom I was having the meeting, and I said, “Listen, I know you’re taking me to lunch. I just want to make sure that it’s a place I’m going to be able to get into, because I made an error here and I don’t have my suit pants.” I didn’t know how else to handle that.

Dorothy: No, that was the right way. You did the right thing. <laughter> Did you get into the restaurant?

Peter: I got into the restaurant and closed the deal!

Dorothy: You did? You did the right thing! There you go.

Peter: This is The Business Shrink. Your Business Shrink is Peter Morris, and Peter Morris, unfortunately is not here today, because I know he would have some great tales for you, Dorothy. He is often counter-intuitive in the way he dresses for business, but he is a screaming business success. I’m Peter Laufer, pleased to be here and to share stories with you and to learn more about what wardrobe means to business, particularly American business.

If you have some questions, if there are some things that are on your mind about what you should and shouldn’t wear, you are welcome to join us. The telephone number is 888-454-3378. This is what you do for business, right Dorothy? You advise people on what to wear.

Dorothy: Well, no that’s not what I do. That’s part of what I do, but I’m a retained executive recruiter, so what that means is I find people jobs. Companies hire our company on a retained basis so we have an exclusive when companies come to us. We are looking for senior executives for our clients.

Peter: Sure, but if you run into a senior executive and the guy is about to go for the meeting and you think he looks like a slob, you might engage that, right?

Dorothy: I very often, actually, talk to people about what they’re going to be wearing for an interview before they go on the interview.

Peter: Well, it will be fascinating to learn more about that as the hour progresses. You’re with The Business Shrink. If you’d like to learn more about The Business Shrink, especially those who are listening on the Lifestyle Talk Radio Network – because we are new to you – you are more than welcome, you are invited to stop by the website, TheBusinessShrink.com, where you can subscribe to the free weekly Business Shrink newsletter, and learn more about The Business Shrink, Peter Morris. His detailed biography is there, and you can also learn more about the upcoming Business Shrink series of books. All of that is at TheBusinessShrink.com, where we dress for success.

Segment 2

Peter: You are listening to The Business Shrink, and The Business Shrink is Peter Morris. I’m Peter Laufer, sitting in for The Business Shrink, Peter Morris, and pleased to be speaking with Dorothy Waldt, one of the partners in CTPartners. That is an executive search firm. We are talking about the importance of clothing, attire, wardrobe, costume, dress to success in business.

Dorothy, you’re quoted as saying, “Don’t wear wrinkled shirts, un-tucked shirts or logo clothing, sagging socks.” These kinds of things seem logical, but in that litany of stuff that you advise against is dangling earrings. What’s wrong with dangling earrings?

Dorothy: Actually, it’s not that there’s anything wrong with dangling earrings. Again, you have to understand the message that you are making, number one, or that you’re conveying, but you also have to understand who your audience is. If you’re going to go into a company where people can wear what they want and you can really be fashionable, go for those dangling earrings. If you want to draw some attention to yourself, and you’re in a company that is very conservative, and you think that’s going to happen in a right way, then wear the dangling earrings.

In other words, if you look as though you somehow are dressed out of context for the environment, that’s where you can make the mistakes. There isn’t really a right or wrong in terms of what you should “never” or should “always” wear to work. It’s a question of understanding where you’re working, who you’re going to be meeting with, and what are you saying by what you’re wearing.

Peter: Dorothy, the information we’re getting from you makes sense and it’s valuable, but the question that comes to my mind is why the heck don’t we know this. Isn’t this the kind of common sense baseline stuff that our mothers ought to have taught us or at least we ought to have gotten out of business school?

Dorothy: I’ve got to tell you – and this is my private theory, okay – I grew up in the 70s, and in the 70s it was kind of like the anti-clothing era. It was sort of like if you wear clothes, you’re materialistic and your priorities are in the wrong place. I think that a lot of people don’t feel that way as much as they used to. That’s not necessarily the pervasive thought anymore. But, we have this idea in this country that you really shouldn’t care about what you look like, that that’s not important.

You know, it isn’t in terms of judging your philosophical outlook towards life and the good you do towards other people, but at the end of the day, when you are making an impression in the business environment, it’s important. It’s not just something that we have been taught the way people in other countries have been taught about coming up with their own personal styles.

Peter: It’s also a cultural change in this country. I’m here in San Francisco and that’s where I grew up. We lived across the Bay in Sausalito, that’s where I grew up, and my father wouldn’t come into San Francisco on a weekday without wearing a suit and a tie, and without having a hat on. If he came into San Francisco on the weekend, he would wear a suit and an open-necked shirt. He wouldn’t bother with the tie, but the rest of his attire would be the same, because that was what was appropriate in order to interact with San Francisco, in his mind and I think in the attitude of the culture at the time.

Dorothy: Yes, but that’s changes. The 60s, 70s, and 80s to some degree, changed that. People wanted to throw out all the suits and they didn’t want to be wearing constrictive clothing. Women were wearing pants instead of wearing skirts all the time. There was really this sort of rebellion to dressing up. What happened then is that the country went in the opposite and got sort of sloppy and not really caring. I think people are beginning to come back. I like seeing kids in high school and kids in college starting to care about what they look like, again. I’m happy to see that, because frankly, at the end of the day, whether you’re dressed up or you’re casual, if you look great, you look great.

Peter: And it is of import for business. There is no question, even if you don’t buy into it. There are a couple of things that we’re going to be talking about as the hour progresses: pants vs. dresses and skirts for women, and the whole look – how you can blow the whole scene by having scuffed shoes, potentially.

All of that coming up with Dorothy Waldt, a partner with CTPartners, an executive search firm in New York. You are welcome to participate if you would like: 888-454-3378 is the phone number here. This is The Business Shrink, and The Business Shrink is personified by Peter Morris. Peter Morris is not here today. He’s taking care of some business he needs to attend to. I’m Peter Laufer here for him, and pleased to direct your attention to the website, The Business Shrink website, which is TheBusinessShrink.com. There you can learn more about Peter Morris, The Business Shrink, and why he has created this radio program and is writing The Business Shrink series of books. You can find information about his Princeton and Harvard background and his gritty street-smart Chicago today – all of that at TheBusinessShrink.com, where we welcome you to The Business Shrink.

Segment 3

Peter: This is The Business Shrink, and your Business Shrink is Peter Morris. Peter Morris is on assignment today. I’m Peter Laufer, deputized by him to sit in and hold the fort. I’m pleased to do it and fascinated to talk with Dorothy Waldt from CTPartners in New York, about dressing for business. It’s something she knows well because she is a partner in that executive search company.

Dorothy, one of the things that’s come out of that period that you were just talking about, the changes that occurred in society and hence in costume, too, during the 70s and maybe going back to the 60s on into the 80s, women not being confined to dresses and skirts…but that doesn’t always translate into the workplace, right? Pants are not always going to work for you depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.

Dorothy: Well, we saw, I think, a lot of women – especially in the 70s, 80s, and again into the 90s – who felt as though the only way they could get ahead was to wear pants and kind of look like a man and really hide their femininity, hide their curves. I have to tell you I really disagree with that approach. I’m really glad that that’s not necessarily the norm.

Peter: Yeah, but you can look really feminine in the right pair of pants, if you’re the right woman.

Dorothy: Absolutely, and that also has to do with how your clothes fit, but for the longest time, women were very concerned and felt that they couldn’t get ahead unless they had baggy, ill-fitting masculine looking clothes. I think a woman, when she looks great and if she’s wearing a feminine suit, dress, pants – it doesn’t matter. If you look great and you’re accentuating what you have in an appropriate way, then you have a lot of power. You have a lot of power. So, I’m glad to see women getting back into dresses and kind of showing off their figures – again, not being vulgar about it and not to try to be sexy about it necessarily, either. Rather, it’s basically saying “I’m woman. I’ve got curves. I’m proud of my shape.” A lot of women work out. A lot of women look tremendous. By all means be proud of yourself.

Peter: In another business context and getting back to politics, we’ve got a woman running for president. How do you assess the clothing that Hillary Clinton has chosen for the campaign trail?

Dorothy: Horrible…horrible.

Peter: Really?

Dorothy: Yes, horrible. Whenever I look at her clothes, I look at the shoulders, and I see that the shoulders of her jackets are not fitting well. Her sleeves tend to be too long. It’s hard to be on the campaign trail because of your lifestyle. You’re moving, moving, moving. I think most people tend to gain weight on the campaign trail because you’re constantly eating and you don’t know what you’re eating, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what size you are, what shape you are, you should wear great-fitting clothes.

Peter: What about on the other side of the aisle? Cindy McCain?

Dorothy: I think she does a little bit better. She tends to come up with clothing that just looks better on her.

Peter: Is that your prejudice? Do you think maybe she’s cuter than Hillary?

Dorothy: <laughter> What a question. Probably yes, but at the end of the day, too, it’s about how your clothes fit. Ill-fitting clothes look bad on anybody. You could be a great-looking person, but if you’re wearing clothes that don’t fit you well, they look bad. I just think that Hillary doesn’t wear clothes that fit her well.

Peter: This is fascinating as we continue to talk about the important of clothing in business, no matter your business. Dorothy Waldt is on with us here on The Business Shrink. She’s a partner with CTPartners, the New York executive search company.

I’m Peter Laufer, sitting in for your Business Shrink, Peter Morris. Peter Morris is The Business Shrink, and you can learn more about him if you’re new to the program. If you’re one of the listeners to the Lifestyle Talk Radio Network, we’ve just started broadcasting to you, and we would most enjoy you getting to know more about us. You can do that at TheBusinessShrink.com. Just check out TheBusinessShrink.com for biographical information about your Business Shrink, Peter Morris, and to subscribe to the free weekly Business Shrink newsletter – all of that at TheBusinessShrink.com.

Segment 4

Peter: You are listening to The Business Shrink. The Business Shrink is Peter Morris. Peter Morris is on duty today, taking care of other business, and he’s entrusted me with the radio program. I’m Peter Laufer, pleased to be here and having a fascinating time. I’m talking with Dorothy Waldt about the importance of costume to business and the interaction of dress and business. Dorothy Waldt is a partner with CTPartners, an executive search company.

One of the things that’s important to point out as the hour of discussion continues, Dorothy, is there are a lot of things besides clothing that help you make a good presentation, right?

Dorothy: Absolutely. It was funny that you mentioned shoes, because I think shoes are a dead giveaway to a lot of people, sometimes. You can have people who are coming to an interview, let’s say, and they have a really, really great suit on, or they have a great dress or whatever. If your shoes look like you need a new pair, that’s kind of like a dead giveaway to a person’s success. People can really interpret someone’s success – believe it or not – based on their shoes. I know many people who’ve said I look at the shoes first. It’s something that I think a lot of people underestimate.

Peter: Again, I look for the reverse prestige, you know? If your shoes are little muddy because you started off the day with a nice hour long hike and it put you in a rigorous mood with an optimistic outlook to take care of business productively, who gives a hoot if your shoes are muddy and you come and sit down and say, “I’ve figured out how we can sell a billion widgets today.”

Dorothy: First of all, if you’ve gone out hiking and then you haven’t changed your shoes you’re wearing, you’re wearing wrong shoes in one of the places – either on the hike or in the interview. That’s number one, but also you’re going to draw attention to yourself for the wrong reason. You don’t want someone staring at your shoes while you’re interviewing. You want them listening to what you’re saying.

Peter: Again, unless you’re somehow able to turn that into a positive. Einstein – and this may be apocryphal – supposedly didn’t wear socks. He said he didn’t want to waste the time putting socks on in the morning because he had better things to do.

Dorothy: He had a lot to say, though.

Peter: Yes, he had a lot to say.

Dorothy: You better have a lot to say if you’re going to do something like that, and it better be brilliant.

Peter: Well, something that feeds into your advice, though, is what the BBC did for a long time with its news reporters. They don’t do it any longer, but they required their radio news reporters to announce the news wearing tuxedos. Obviously, that sounds ludicrous, because you can’t see them. They’re on the radio.

Dorothy: Right.

Peter: The concept was by putting them into that formal attire, it affected their psychological attitude toward their presentation, and hence, the formality. Do you buy something like that?

Dorothy: To an extent, yes. If you’re doing that every day, it’s going to become routine, but absolutely. Let me give you the reverse example, so let’s say you go on an interview or you’re going to a meeting, and you’re not accustomed to wearing suits, right? I keep going back to suits just because they sort of have the most constraint, in terms of garments. So, at the interview or meeting, you’re wearing a suit that you’re really uncomfortable with. You’re going to be so uncomfortable that you may squirm. You’re not going to feel go in your own skin. You may not come across the way you wanted to. See, you have to be careful about this. You have to look right without feeling uncomfortable.

In the same respect, if you’re wearing something that you feel great in, and you know that you look great in, it gives you a lot of confidence. You’re going to come across as a confident person.

Peter: Sure, comfort is extraordinarily important in that regard. Going back to those who aren’t in the news, that comfortableness is something we’ve heard repeated by observers regarding Barack Obama. That works with his attire too. It seems when he is on stage that he just flows, almost as a dancer.

Dorothy: Yes, he’s very unencumbered by his clothing. Some people are encumbered by their clothing and you note it. Then what happens is that then you’re noticing how uncomfortable they look. You’re not listening to what they say. That same can happen in an interview. You don’t want to look awkward. You don’t want to look like you don’t fit it. You don’t want to draw attention to yourself by what you’re wearing. You want to draw attention to yourself by what you’re saying.

Peter: Again, unless you can perceive a value to your uniqueness, so if you’re the only guy in the room with the beret or the only guy in the room with the pink tie or whatever it is, that has the potential – I keep trying to convince you and without much success it seems – to work in your favor.

Dorothy: It can work in your favor if you know how to work it. How many people do you know how to work their clothes like that?

Peter: Yeah.

Dorothy: You have to be skilled at that. I’m going to give you an example. I had a gentleman come to an interview once to see me at my office. He walks in the door, and his beard was dyed blue. No kidding – he’s wearing a goatee and a mustache, and they’re royal blue. I thought, “Holy cow. I can’t believe I’m talking to a guy with a blue beard.”

Peter: Of course it depends on what kind of a job he was applying for.

Dorothy: He was applying for a marketing job, but I didn’t really expect him to come in with a blue beard. Blue was pretty off the wall, right?

Peter: Sure.

Dorothy: The good thing is that he came in and he instantly got into the discussion about why his beard was blue.

Peter: Why? Why, Dorothy, was his beard blue?

Dorothy: He dyed it once a joke, just for fun, and so many people stopped him on the street and in business, etc., but the response that he got was curiosity. Nobody was aggressive. Nobody blew him off. People were attracted to it, as opposed to being repulsed by it or driven away by it. So, what he does is when he goes into a situation, he goes into the story about why he has the blue beard. At that point, he’s sort of addressed the elephant in the room, because that’s basically what it was. Frankly, how am I going to send somebody to a client and say, “Oh, by the way, his beard’s blue.” It just sounds a little off the wall. In reality, though, he addressed it right away, so now all of a sudden, I could listen to him as opposed to focusing on his blue beard. Also, my curiosity was then satisfied. I did not sit there going, “Why in heaven’s name is his beard blue??”

Peter: Yes, but Dorothy, that poor guy didn’t get the job, did he?

Dorothy: No, but only because he was wrong for it. It wasn’t because of his beard.

Peter: Yeah, sure.

Dorothy: Yeah, seriously. I would have sent him if he was right. He really impressed me. I’m not kidding.

Peter: Your attire, how you look, how that works with the psychology of business, which is the sweet spot of The Business Shrink, Peter Morris. He’s always looking for what is that interaction: psychology, strategy, and business. That’s what happens here on The Business Shrink. Peter Morris is The Business Shrink, and he’s not here today. He’s taking care of some other business, and he’s left me with the program. I’m so pleased he did, because this is a fascinating discussion with Dorothy Waldt about how your clothing affects your business relationships. All of that is right here at The Business Shrink. You can check out more about The Business Shrink by taking a look at the website which is TheBusinessShrink.com. That’s TheBusinessShrink.com for more about Peter Morris, The Business Shrink.

Segment 5

Peter: The Business Shrink is Peter Morris. The aforementioned Peter Morris is The Business Shrink, and he is not hear today. I’m Peter Laufer, sitting in for him, and we are talking about the psychology of how you look and how that relates to your success in business, with Dorothy Waldt, who is a partner in CTPartners, an executive search company in New York.

It’s not just what you wear, right Dorothy? Other factors exist: the way you slouch in the chair, putting your feet up on the boss’s desk, chewing gum, spitting out sunflower seed shells?

Dorothy: <laughter> Exactly. I don’t recommend any of the above. If you are sitting, let’s say, with your legs crossed and your arms wrapped around you, you’re really giving an impression that you don’t want to be there or that you feel uncomfortable or insecure. You should kind of take up space when you’re sitting in a chair and meeting with someone. By that, I mean put your arms on the armrest. Look comfortable. You can have your legs crossed, but make sure that you’re sitting back in the chair and you’ve got your arms on the armrest, because you’re basically letting the person know, “I have confidence.” A lot of people underestimate this stuff, but at the end of the day, these are intuitive things that we all actually are responding to every day.

Peter: Sure, but there also are – are there not – things about us that are basically positives but we have to watch out for accentuating them under certain circumstances. A business friend of mine, long ago, drew it to my attention. I’m a strapping guy, 6’ 3 “, and he said, “Watch out that you’re not towering over people…that you’re presence and the fact that you’re so outgoing and so outspoken doesn’t intimidate those with whom you’re trying to do business.”

Dorothy: Oh, I don’t know. As long as you have a smile on your face, and you have a good handshake, and you’re not trying to bully anybody, it’s okay. You can’t help your height, and it’s kind of hard to hide that. I think what he means is that you don’t want to go in and meet a person, grad their hand, and crush their fingers as you’re gripping onto it. You don’t want to come across like that. You don’t want to come across as being too tough, or that someone is not going to be able to work with you. You can do that. It doesn’t matter how tall you are or what your stature is. It’s really about your body language. Also, are you warm? Are you engaging? Are you open? You have to look open to people.

Peter: Sure. Now, we just have less than a minute left here, and it’s been a fascinating hour. Thank you for joining us, Dorothy Waldt, from CTPartners.

Dorothy: Thank you for asking me.

Peter: Before we say goodbye, let’s play a little game, okay? Let’s find out what you’re wearing and what I’m wearing because this is radio and no one can see us.

Dorothy: <laughter> Okay.

Peter: You guess first. What am I wearing?

Dorothy: What are you wearing…let’s see, you’re in San Francisco. You could be messing with me on this one, but I’m going to guess that you in blue jeans and a button-down shirt.

Peter: You’re really close. It’s a dress shirt, no button-down, and blue jeans for sure. Now, you’re back there in New York, and I’m going to guess that you are wearing fishnet stockings, stiletto heels, a really tight black skirt, and you can almost see through your blouse.

Dorothy: You’re close on some and not on others. I am wearing high heels. I’m wearing patterned stockings, not fishnet stockings. I wouldn’t wear that to the office. I am wearing a shaped black skirt that is not too short or too tight. I’m wearing a maroon sweater that has a little tie in front. It’s a little low-cut and feminine, but certainly not see-through.

Peter: And what are you doing tonight?

Dorothy: <laughter>

Peter: It’s been a fascinating hour. Thank you so much, Dorothy Waldt. No, I’m no Governor Spitzer, and you’re no whatever her name is. We’ve had a great hour, and I hope we get a chance to do it again some time when Peter Morris is here, The Business Shrink, because he will very much enjoy talking with you. Thanks for joining us!

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