Advertisement
Canada markets open in 4 hours 44 minutes
  • S&P/TSX

    21,837.18
    -12.02 (-0.06%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,149.42
    +32.33 (+0.63%)
     
  • DOW

    38,790.43
    +75.63 (+0.20%)
     
  • CAD/USD

    0.7366
    -0.0023 (-0.31%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    82.53
    -0.19 (-0.23%)
     
  • Bitcoin CAD

    86,333.08
    -5,645.23 (-6.14%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,153.20
    -11.10 (-0.51%)
     
  • RUSSELL 2000

    2,024.74
    -14.58 (-0.72%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.3400
    0.0000 (0.00%)
     
  • NASDAQ futures

    18,195.75
    -35.75 (-0.20%)
     
  • VOLATILITY

    14.48
    +0.15 (+1.05%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,731.80
    +9.25 (+0.12%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,003.60
    +263.20 (+0.66%)
     
  • CAD/EUR

    0.6790
    -0.0002 (-0.03%)
     

You don’t need a suit to be a suit

An office worker uses his mobile phone as he leaves an office building in central Sydney July 30, 2013. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz (Reuters)

An overwhelming section of the c-suite is going the way of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg – taking a casual approach to dressing, driving and dining, according to a recent survey by job website CareerBuilder.ca.

According to the study of 400 hiring managers, including CEOs and the senior leadership team, 69 per cent of executives go half-Zuck (or business casual as the non-Silicon Valleyers call it), while 18 per cent go full-Zuck regularly slumming it in jeans or shorts in the office. Surprisingly, less than one in 10 execs regularly rock out in a suit.

As for the chariot of choice, 83 per cent forego the white-gloved chauffeured limousines, driving their own cars to work. 32 per cent drive mid-sized sedans and 18 per cent trampled traffic in their SUVs. Minivans and luxury sedans tie for third place at 7 per cent while sports cars make up a mere 3 per cent.

One in five c-suiters prefer environmentally-friendly ways to get around like cycling, public transportation or hybrids.

ADVERTISEMENT

When it comes to dining, 64 per cent say they bring their lunch from home and for those that pop out and take a breather at happy hour – beer, wine and abstaining from alcohol factor in as the drink of choice almost equally.

And as work-life balance becomes common culture, the days of the seventy-hour workweeks are seemingly coming to an end with 56 per cent of senior leadership teams keeping their weeks between 40 and 49 hours.

But concentrating on the habits and style of successful leaders is counterproductive to building the hard skills necessary to run a company, says Mary Crossan, professor of general management at Western University’s Ivey School of Business.

“This notion of focusing on what car you drive or what you wear or what you drink totally puts people in the wrong direction when it comes to leadership,” she says. “A lot of people follow that kind of advice (but) what happens is what I call a character lobotomy – in the process they lose the sense of who they are and why they are and what they’re about.”

It also tends to cloud what being a leader really is.

“The nuclear arms escalation on the type of cars, suit, shoes, purses that somebody might have is absolutely inconsistent with a lot of what leaders value and think is important,” adds Crossan.

That’s not to say how you dress or carry yourself isn’t important, it just requires a finer look at the “why” part of the equation.

For instance, if you’re a lawyer dealing with really difficult issues you may wear clothing that signifies you care about details.

“When you’re coming in with your clothes disheveled and stained and your shoes aren’t polished, those may be indicators to people about how you care for yourself and therefore how you would care for others,” says Crossan. “That kind of social awareness would be important.”

But she cautions aspiring leaders look beyond superficial elements like style to strengthening that sense of who they are.

“Beyond competence – which is the price of admission for leadership – the real horsepower for leaders is the strength of their character, their authenticity, transparency and integrity,” she adds.

Even still, it doesn’t let leaders off the hook to do what they want and wear what they want.

“One of the dimensions of character is humanity, the ability to relate to people,” says Crossman adding that that’s when the conversation around how a leader carries his or her self effects “the comfort level of those around them so that they can have the quality of conversation that they need to.”