The old adage "dress for success" still holds true. "Men of a certain caliber
have bespoke suits. Women tend not to be as conscious that dress is part of
their professional brand," says Rand Kaspi of LawScope Coaching. You don't need
a bespoke suit, but you do need to avoid walking around in flats and khakis with
a sweater set.
Once you dress the part, act the part with both clients and superiors.
Whether that means studying up on squash because a client is a devotee or
brushing up on vintage wines because a vice president once expressed his
penchant for them, you'll need to delve into hobbies you may not have
considered.
If all this talk of hobbies is making you think of the one sport through
which deals are made, you are correct: You need to learn how to play golf. You
don't have to be good, but you have to be competent enough to be invited for
quality bonding time.
Pippa Woods, former manager of strategic planning at New Jersey Transit, used
her ability to play to get closer to her bosses when she was starting out in her
career. As a research officer for a transit agency in Vancouver, Canada, Woods,
now 56, frequently took to the golf course with the three senior men at the
company.
"My boss was a big golfer so we played a lot," she said. "My mother gave me
golf lessons when I was 16. I thought it was the worst 16th birthday present
ever. But it was one of the best things she ever did. I didn't play that well,
but it was an opportunity to be on a level playing field."
That bonding over golf gave her the confidence to ask for time off to enroll
in masters degree courses in public administration. Her golf buddy bosses not
only encouraged her, they didn't dock her vacation pay to take them.
"I felt more equal on the golf course than in the workplace," she says. "They
could see me as a 360-degree person."
