We’re going to talk about style tips for you as a leader! Leadership style tips are essential because representing yourself as a leader is key!
I know many people are in business, direct sales, and have leadership positions. Do you have a team underneath you? And they’re looking up to you?
It’s so important that we are presenting ourselves as the leader that we are. And by the way, this can also be used for showing up as the boss mom that you are in your house.
So if you are a stay-at-home mom, and you don’t work other than the kids, which right there is a tremendous job, you can also use these tips.
Leadership Style Tips
I saw a quote that really stood out to me that I wanted to read to you, and here’s how it goes:
Dress is a systematic means of transmission of information about the wearer.
How profound is that? So think about it for a second.
What this is saying is that how you dress, what you put on, is a way to transmit your message about you and what you have to offer to others that you come into contact with.
It’s telling others a little background story about you before you even open your mouth because we have about seven seconds to make that first impression.
This is so important for somebody in a leadership position where people are looking up to you, following you, looking at everything that you do, and mirroring you.
People are going to pay attention to you first
If you’re looking to build a team or even an entrepreneur like myself, you need to represent your services, products, and brands.
You want to make sure that how you’re getting dressed, how you’re putting yourself together (if in a manner that is showing up), making you show up as the expert that you are and as the leader that you are.
So that’s why what you wear really is so important and plays such an important role in creating that positive first impression.
How do you dress to create that positive first impression?
I know this is a huge question. It’s probably the main question that I get when I’m talking about this topic. So there are a few things to think about.
You want to think about what kind of look are you going for? What kind of message are you trying to give? Who’s your target audience? When you’re in a leadership position, or you’re communicating to others that you are an expert in your field, in your industry, in your category, in your niche, you want to give that impression, and clothing is the first way to do that.
In addition to clothing, it’s also how well you groom yourself, your makeup, accessories, things like that. We’re not talking about any of this having to be super expensive either. It’s just how you put it all together.
I’ll give you a little story.
When you’re getting dressed, especially if you are doing a presentation, or maybe now you are leaving your home and going to business appointments face-to-face. If you’re going to get back on stage, you want to make sure that you’re not distracting and you’re dressed in a way that presents yourself as a leader. So that’s something to think about.
So I want to give you Six Style Tips that are going to help you, to provide that leadership impression to your audience, to your team members, anybody that you want to know that you are the boss, you’re the one in charge, and you want them to follow you.
Six Style Tips on how to develop your leadership style
You want to balance between being attractive and being powerful
When you come off powerful, that’s already attractive. You don’t need to show tons of skin, especially if you’re going to be in a business meeting, going on stage, or doing a zoom call. You want to be dressed appropriately.
You can achieve this balance by using the right colors, by your hair is shiny and vibrant, by doing your makeup flawlessly.
By speaking well with the clothes you’re wearing, your accessories, and how you put it all together without being super sexy, just having all of this put together perfectly comes off attractively.
You want to be fashionable, not trendy
Being trendy costs a lot of money. I used to be one of those that would run after trends non-stop. And do you know why I would run out of trends? Because I wasn’t comfortable in my own body, I wasn’t satisfied with my style, and I didn’t really know what my style was yet.
Maybe you have trends that you want to incorporate into your style permanently, but you don’t want to be running after trends constantly. You’ll end up with lots of clothes that you’ll wear just a few times because trends go in and out of style.
You want to use trends that you can incorporate into your style as part of you.
Think about colors
Once you know what colors go with your skin tone, you use those same colors when you go to dye your hair, when you go shopping for new clothes, when you’re buying makeup, and when you’re putting your branding images together.
Knowing how to create a unique color palette is super important. But when we’re talking about leadership and colors to wear in front of an audience, or on zoom, or in face-to-face business meetings, or presenting something, colors can go a long way.
Adapt to your audience
I have been to many presentations and business meetings where I wasn’t the leader. I was a participant or there as a spectator. The person speaking to our group was totally out of line with how she was dressed, and she wasn’t very relatable.
So you also want to think about, who you’re going to be talking to, who you’re going to be presenting, who you’re going to be speaking in front of, and you want to mimic the audience.
Now, of course, you want to be comfortable and feel like yourself, but you don’t want to seem like you’re just way too far out there for them to be relatable, either.
Adapt for day and night
I remember often being out for meetings all day long and then not having the ability to come back home and change because I would meet my hubby somewhere or do something else afterward.
Having the ability just quickly to change from flats to heels, or maybe have an extra set of jewelry in your purse that you can use the same outfit that you use for daytime and repurpose it for nighttime.
So plan things out ahead of time, so you’re aware that, “Okay, I’m going to dress today, but this is also going to work for the night if I only change out my shoes, or my bag, or my accessories.” It’s super simple that way.
Project yourself all the time, not somebody else
You don’t want to fake it. You don’t want to pretend that you’re somebody that you’re not. If you feel good in your clothes, you’re going to feel more confident, and you’re going to feel more relaxed. The colors that we go after represents how we are on the inside.
So here are other quick fashion tips that I want to give you when you are styling yourself for that leadership position:
You don’t want to get into a fashion riot
Do you know how this happens? We feel like we have nothing to wear, even though it’s packed with clothes, right? So here’s how to get rid of that, you need to do a closet cleanup. It would be best if you decluttered at least twice a year. It’s best to do a deep closet declutter and inventory what to keep and what not to keep. Ask yourself some tough questions for each of those pieces in your wardrobe that you’re not wearing, decide to donate them, or store them away somewhere else.
If you’re iffy about something, ask yourself three different ways that you can style it. If you can’t think of those three ways, it’s time to get rid of them. Then make sure that it has enough basics because you can do a lot with the mix and matching basics and add accessories.
You can do my simple 1,2,3 steps in getting dressed.
Don’t let it stress you out
Dressing like a leader might stress you out. Ease into it slowly but surely, and the way you can do that is by starting to incorporate blazers. I love blazers. They are amazing.
Don’t forget about your footwear
Heels go a long way, and you can have so much fun with heels — color heels, printed heels, or stick to the neutrals.
Don’t go all crazy depending on how your outfit is but heels will help with giving you that leadership position.
Clothing hacks
One of my favorite ones, which I already mentioned, is that the blazers look. Also, belts, thick belts that you put over more like oversized tops, or dresses look nice. So those are just a couple of examples.
Also, jewelry will do it as well. So your accessories can go a long way.
