Archive for July, 2011
Summer office wear relaxed but professional
Posted by dcraig in Article, Executive Presence, Image, Professional/Business focused material on July 24, 2011
Old rule still applies: Dress for the position you aspire to
The Calgary Herald
Derek Sankey, July 23, 2011
As the dust settles from another Calgary Stampede, emloyees have traded in their estern duds for their usual ffice attire, but in the sumer months most offices re in a more casual mode f dress, leaving room for ome interpretation as to hat’s appropriate in the armer months.
“After the long, cold winter, people are looking for lighter fabrics and that sort of thing, but overall we typically embrace a more business-casual style anyway,” says Susan Chesney, a branch manager in Calgary with Robert Half Canada.
While some people “really stretch the boundaries” during Stampede, some employers are reminding their workforce about what’s appropriate – or not – during the warmer weather and Chesney says workers should always remember first impressions count.
“When things start to slip a bit, like if after Stampede everybody hasn’t quite adopted (regular office attire), then the reminder can be sent out just to get people aware again,” she says.
“You only get that one opportunity to make that first impression.”
What’s appropriate in the office has changed drastically over the past 20 years, going from a very conservative, buttoned-down look to a much more varied, casual mix of attire in the office.
The one thing that hasn’t changed is the importance of being aware of what is deemed appropriate for each individual company – and for the health of your own career.
“It’s more about creating a professional image that you want to reflect,” Chesney says. “In a competitive marketplace, creating a professional image is more critical than ever.
Although it may seem superficial, there is quite a bit of emphasis placed on appearance – dressing professionally – but you don’t have to wear the most expensive clothing.”
For people on internships or just coming out of university, it often helps for employers to develop a general dress code guideline to help workers navigate what choices are acceptable for the office. The best gauge is simply looking around.
“Every company is going to be a little bit different,” she says. “The best yardstick is what the person next to you is wearing and what your supervisor is wearing.”
Forty-one per cent of human resource managers surveyed in a recent OfficeTeam report stated their company’s dress code is relaxed in the summer.
You never know who may be in the office that day or what meeting you may be called into at the last minute, though. The old rule that you dress for the position you aspire to still holds true today.
Kim Magnussen, a Calgary stylist, says people don’t need to obsess over their office attire, but that some simple rules can help an employee be seen as professional and yet not underor over-dressed.
“There is usually a middle ground in any office, but if there’s any doubt, it’s always better to err on the side of caution and dress it up a bit, rather than dressing it down and risk presenting a poor image,” says Magnussen.
Flip-flops are out, no matter what office you work in, she says. Overly revealing, or sheer, transparent clothing is another no-no.
Sundresses may be acceptable in some offices, but it depends largely on the fabric and style of dress. If it looks like it should be worn at the beach, it should probably be saved for the beach. Open-toed sandals may be acceptable for women in some offices, but in general sandals are in the same category as flip-flops.
For style-impaired men, Magnussen recommends going into a well-known business clothing retailer and asking for advice.
In many offices, you don’t see ties worn at all any more, but in others they are still considered an expectation, particularly for employees in more conservative environments or where they have a lot of contact with external clients.
Chesney recommends always having a blazer or jacket on hand in the office for the workday – just in case. “You’re still dressed up a bit, but then you can make that transition really easily after work,” she says. It all comes down to the “professional brand” you’re trying to portray.
Keep in mind what’s planned for your workday, too. If you have a series of meetings with high-profile managers or customers, dress it up a bit. If it’s a down day where you’ll be stuck in your cubicle all day, take a more casual approach. It all comes down to common sense. Just don’t show up in your Wranglers and cowboy boots a week or two after the Stampede is over – that’s just embarrassing, she says.
“People just have to look around and be aware of what other people in the organization are wearing, especially if there is no specific dress code,” Chesney says. “The whole (businesscasual) fashion trend has created more of an awareness in the workplace as to what is and isn’t appropriate.
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Working At Home: How To Mind Your Professional Manners
Posted by dcraig in Etiquette, Professional/Business focused material on July 21, 2011
Forbes
Mindy Lockard, July 20 2011
Do you share the dream? The dream of working from home where children (if you have them) play happily at your feet, you’re free to make your own hours and, best of all, you can spend the entire day in your PJs? Sounds too good to be true? It is!
Working from home and maintaining professional manners can be a tricky tango. In reality, the dream is interrupted by a laundry pile that calls our name, office hours that make a punch-clock look appealing and living day after day in yoga pants. The same reasons we wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) tote a load of whites to wash at the office should motivate us to establish good work-from-home boundaries.
Here are a few tips to make working from home comfortable… in a mannerly sort of a way.
A dress code that’s more than your birthday suit.
A perk of working at home is the dress code, or lack thereof. But just as the saying goes “you are what you eat”…so you are what you wear. Fashion designer and co-founder of the popular fashion blog Shopafrolic Liz Lange reminds us, “When you are dressed-up it sets the tone for your day, you feel better about yourself and thus are more productive. You need to dress for yourself. I always get dressed even when I am working from home or when I am sick.”
Getting dressed up, even just a little – something between a power suit and birthday suit – is less about other people and more about us. The better we feel, the more productive we will be.
Ring a ding ding…
Those who work at home can’t afford to pick up on the first ring; they must schedule their phone meetings carefully. A scheduled phone call ensures we are prepared with the necessary paperwork/e-mails on hand. It also helps us to limit our background noise.
Kate Lewis, author of The Civilized Minute, reminds us of the following: “It’s unprofessional to be on a call, walk to the sink, turn on the water, scrape the lunch remnants down the disposal and flip the switch.” In this situation (clank) it’s not what we say (flush) but what they hear, that will taint our professional image.
Once you hit send… there’s no getting it back.
Proofing those e-mails and checking them twice does make a difference between what’s naughty and nice.This reminder would have saved me early on in my career when, while trying to iron and poach eggs, I sent an e-mailed bio reading, “Works with Pubic Schools.” True story.
Although accidents and mistakes happen, working from home has its share of distractions and sometimes it’s easy to hit send mid-chaos. So remember to put down the iron and focus on what you’ve said and how you’ve spelled it.
Office of one doesn’t mean we work alone.
Work-from-home professionals juggle daily work tasks with those who live in our work space. From children to roommates, this can be a tricky task… and by tricky I mean frustrating. Communicating ahead of time and setting boundaries are key to keeping peace on the homefront.
It’s always helpful to alert family members to phone meetings ahead of time, by saying, “I have a call at 10 a.m. and I need not to be interrupted!” rather than yelling while the phone is ringing “It’s a work call!”
When it comes to how you would like family to communicate, set boundaries such as, “If you need me when I’m typing, please just wait patiently until I’ve finished. I’ll do my best to stop and acknowledge you,” or “If there’s an emergency while I’m on the phone, I’ve set these Post-It notes aside for you to write down what you need.” After all, who wants to be known as the office grouch…especially in your own home.
With a few manners under your professional belt you’ll find working at home more comfortable, even without wearing yoga pants.
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“I am always exhausted. What can I do to look refreshed?”—Olivia Wilde
”I am always exhausted. What can I do to look refreshed?”—Olivia Wilde
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The 10 New Rules of Dining Etiquette
Posted by dcraig in Dining Etiquette on July 21, 2011
Zagat
Tim Zagat, July 20 2011
Chivalry is dead. Maybe that’s not so great. At least the old rules of etiquette were clear-cut and made life easy. For example, in yesteryear when dining, men did the inviting, held doors, chairs and coats for women, tasted the wine, paid the bills and gave the tips. Women in turn were supposed to be pleasant companions. Clearly things have changed since then. Here are 10 proposals for new rules:
1. EQUALITY
Women and men should be treated as equals. Still, a plurality of diners says that men are treated better than women. The explanation given is that men are more likely to pay the bill and tip. How dated can you be? She probably earns more than you.
2. PAYING FOR IT
Whoever initiates a dinner date pays. Long ago, women were handed menus with no prices on them. Nowadays, whoever did the inviting should be expected to pay for the meal, unless you’ve worked out another arrangement in advance.
3. ORDERING FOOD
Forget gender – people should order when ready. Sorry, Emily Post, but gone are the days when women were expected to go first. Since menus can be long and complex, regardless of your sex it’s a courtesy to order first and buy your tablemates a bit more time to decide.
4. HANDHELD VICES
Do not talk, text, tweet, e-mail or surf the web at table. It’s rude, say 63% of diners. A whopping 73% advise turning off ringers. If you have urgent business to deal with, step away from the table briefly to handle matters.
5. KIDS, KIDS, KIDS
It’s fine to bring children to dinner in most restaurants. But don’t do it at places where they’d elevate the decibel level or that are meant to be romantic. Zagat surveyors split over the age at which children should be allowed: 38% say from birth while the same percent argues five years or older. Tellingly, 61% believe restaurants should be able to ban children.
6. DRESSING DOWN OR UP
Dress casually. This is known as the “Los Angelization of dining.” Hardly any restaurants require ties and jackets anymore. Even the tiny minority that do won’t object if you put your jacket over the back of the chair. About the only rule left is “don’t be a slob.” Alternatively, you may want to “dress up” to impress your companion.
7. SERIOUS RESERVATIONS
Honor your restaurant reservations or cancel them on time. People should treat dining reservations as the important commitments they are. Holding an empty table for a no-show does real damage to a restaurant. If you make reservations and fail to cancel in advance, you’ll deservedly become persona non grata at the restaurant.
8. OK, NOW GET OUT
Don’t overstay your welcome at a busy restaurant. To clarify: Take your time and enjoy your food, wine, conversation and after-dinner treats. Nobody should ever feel rushed. But interestingly, 60% of Zagat surveyors nationally support restaurants setting time limits on tables during peak hours. Remember, next time you may be the one waiting in line.
9. LONG LIVE CHIVALRY
Men go through doors first, and then hold them open for women. We know, we know. This is the one rule of chivalry that will never die, even if it’s been updated (men used to allow women to go first). Bottom line: two people can’t go through a door at the same time. So to the women out there who find this notion antiquated, please, humor these poor men. Let them get the door – they’ll let you get the bill or walk on the outside once out on the street.
10. REMEMBER YOU’RE THE CUSTOMER.
And the customer is always right. Too often customers feel they are being judged by the wait staff. That’s exactly wrong. Short of berating the waiter, you should expect to receive hospitable, efficient service and good food at any restaurant. If that doesn’t happen, take your money elsewhere and tell the next 10 people that you meet.
More on Dining Etiquette… here and here
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Phone Etiquette: How to Answer a Business Call
EtiquettePage
Margaret, July 8 2011
Even with all of the new ways to communicate these days, the telephone is still a primary means of communication in business. Good telephone etiquette will always be a crucial element to winning customers and building business relationships.
The way that you answer a business call will form your customer’s first impression of you and your business.
Here are a few telephone answering tips to ensure that you’re presenting yourself—and your business–in a professional manner, all the time!
1. Always answer a call promptly—at least by the third ring.
2. Always answer the phone in a professional and pleasant manner, and with a smile. Be enthusiastic. People can feel it or hear it on the other end.
3. When answering an office phone, welcome callers by introducing yourself and your organization. For instance, ““Hello, Etiquette Page Enterprises, Margaret speaking. How may I help you?” If you’re answering a personal cell phone, a simple, “Good morning, this is Margaret,” is appropriate.
4. Speak slowly and clearly when answering the phone so that the caller can understand you. Keep your voice at a moderate level. No one likes to be yelled at!
5. If you’re answering a phone with multiple lines, be sure to ask the caller if it’s all right for you to place him on hold BEFORE you do so. Provide callers who are on hold with an update every 30 to 45 seconds and offer them choices if possible. “That line is busy, would you like to continue to hold or would you like to leave a message for Ms. Friesen?
6. Don’t use speakerphone to answer an incoming call. This could give the caller the immediate impression that you’re not full engaged with them.
7. If you use an answering machine to catch those calls you can’t get to, make certain that you record a professional message that includes an introduction (just as if you were answering the phone). This will ensure that the caller knows he has reached the right person and avoid any confusion. Provide any other pertinent information that you feel would be useful to callers. For example: If you leaving for a vacation, update your message to include this information, along with the date you will be returning.
Good telephone manners go a long way. Following these few tips will ensure that you leave a positive impression with business contacts (so that they call back!)
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Business dining etiquette can make or break a deal
Posted by dcraig in Dining Etiquette, Professional/Business focused material, Tips on July 11, 2011
Some of the most successful business meetings are conducted over lunch or dinner.
al.com
Deborah O’Connor
Knowing how to dine with decorum can determine whether you get the contract for your company or the job of your dreams. If a potential client or boss sees that you can’t dine properly, they start to wonder what else you don’t know. Proper dining etiquette can establish your credibility and reputation. It sets you apart from the crowd and builds self-confidence as well.
Many employers want to see you in a social setting to see how you conduct yourself, as your job may require frequent dining with clients. If you cannot conduct yourself properly, it can affect your job. Here are some dining etiquette tips to help you dine with decorum.
• If you are entertaining clients and want to avoid the fight over who pays the bill, there is a simple and proper way to handle it. Simply contact the maitre d’ and tell him you are hosting the dinner and want to pay the bill. Give him your credit card information and tell him you do not want the bill brought to the table and that you will settle up with him later. This is an impressive way to entertain clients.
• If you are a lunch or dinner guest, there are definite rules to follow. Always arrive on time and call if you know you will be late. If you arrive before your host and are seated at the table, you must not touch, eat or drink anything until your host arrives. Enter and exit your seat from the right, and rise when a lady leaves the table.
Remember, if it isn’t part of the meal, it does not belong on the table. Purses, briefcases, cellphones, iPads, keys, etc., should be under your chair. Be sure to turn your phone off. Nothing says, “You’re not very important” like a ringing cell phone.
• Your host sets the pace for the meal. Do not begin until he or she does.
• If you are not sure which utensil to use, work from the outside in. Once a piece of silverware has left the table, it never touches the table again. Do not gesture with your silverware, and never, ever speak with food in your mouth.
• Always pass the salt and pepper together.
• Never blow on food if it is too hot, just let it cool off.
• Pause between bites and do not gulp your food. If you do not like something that has been served, don’t comment on it; simply don’t eat it.
• If you must leave the table, simply say excuse me, place your napkin on your chair, and leave. There is no need to announce where you are going.
• If you accidentally spill on someone, simply offer your napkin and insist on paying for dry cleaning. Remember, if you stay calm so will everyone else.
Successful business dining is not difficult and by following these suggestions you will stand out to your boss, clients, and peers. It will set you apart as a confident and credible host or guest and demonstrate your ability to plan and entertain with decorum.
More on Dining Etiquette… here and here
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Modern Etiquette: Mind your corporate governance manners
Posted by dcraig in Article, Executive Presence, Professional/Business focused material on July 11, 2011
Not long ago I read a story in an internationally-respected publication which described how corporate annual meetings, in an effort to avoid in-person shareholder dissent, hold their meetings at geographically undesirable, inconvenient sites.
Reuters
Mary Mitchell, July 11 2011
I am getting tired of stories about big-name corporations and the games they play. I am getting tired of hearing about some very arrogant, greedy, and downright rude individuals.
I am a shareholder, too.
Sadly, these rude individuals – the corporate executives, directors, lawyers, accountants – need to be reminded of noblesse oblige, or that rank, their rank specifically, compels obligation. Remembering this would help bring into focus their duties and responsibilities.
Good manners are about treating others the way we want to be treated. An individual with good manners is responsible for his conduct and the consequences of his behavior. Individuals with good manners define themselves by their actions.
Is it not rude to think only of oneself? Yet is that not what happens when corporate officers report inaccurate financial results, engage in self-dealing, and are less than candid with the board, outside constituents, etc..?
The damage from bad governance is direct and swift:
1. Stockholders, who through their elected directors chose the executives leading the companies whose shares they own, stand to lose on their equity investments.
2. Employees, whose jobs, work environment, and life security are entrusted to the executives, pay for the executives’ lack of good manners with their jobs, their pensions, or sometimes even their lives.
3. Directors, who are financially and personally responsible for the business conduct of the executives, lose when the bad judgments and their consequences surface.
4. Suppliers’ businesses and financial stability are damaged by the actions of the executives who rudely ignore the obligations imposed by the code of noblesse oblige.
5. Retirees who depend on the good governance of the corporation may lose pension benefits, their personal retirement investments in their company’s stock, and retiree medical plans when rudeness rules.
6. Communities in which a corporation has offices, plants, or other facilities stand to lose a significant corporate citizen, employer, and taxpayer when the company’s leaders fail to understand or choose to ignore noblesse oblige.
7. Other investors, such as bondholders, partners in joint ventures, and franchise holders, all depend on good governance to protect and enhance their investments – and rudeness will negatively impact each of them.
8. Consultants are subject to financial loss and professional destruction when their clients are governed without regard to good manners and when the resulting misinformation, fraud, and collapse are laid at their doors.
9. Banks and other financial institutions may sink under the weight of bad loans, bad accounting, corrupt business practices, and fraud upon their institutions brought on by bad client governance – again, a denial of the obligation of rank to practice integrity.
10. Management itself ultimately pays for its rude behavior through stock options that can become worthless, lost employment for themselves, criminal prosecutions or civil lawsuits, and private civil actions for damages.
11. Customers, including governments, depend on companies to provide uninterrupted services, and serious consequences may result from bankruptcies caused by the arrogance of accounting fraud.
The consequences of the lack of ethical standards and infectious greed are reported daily in the financial press: plunging stock prices, bankruptcies, government investigations, congressional hearings, and legislative proposals.
But I believe that congressional actions, criminal punishments, civil fines, or regulatory fiats never truly will change the system.
What about considering this solution:
Each individual is responsible for his conduct and its consequences. We are what we do. Our actions speak louder than our words. Or acts, not our words, define and reveal us.
Or, simpler still: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We trust individuals who treat others the way they wish to be treated.
The corporate governance culture must be reborn with respect for truth, accountability, integrity, accuracy, and honor. As long as we chase the paradigm of greed and fraud, rude corporate governance will flourish. How very sad.
Consider a different model, if you will: Bad corporate governance is, in fact, corporate rudeness.
And good corporate governance is, in fact, good manners.
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What not to eat at a work lunch
Posted by dcraig in Dining Etiquette, Etiquette, Professional/Business focused material, Tips on July 11, 2011
You’re nervous enough for that big lunch with a prospective client or boss. We went to the First Family of etiquette—Post—for some tips.
Chicago Tribune
Judy Hevrdejs, July 11 2011
When good lunches go bad, it’s a sordid tale. But it has nothing to do with spoiled food.
Nope, good lunches get ugly when cherry tomatoes explode and sandwiches dribble mustard down your arm and balsamic vinegar sprays tablemates. It gets even uglier when you lunch with co-workers — and downright terrifying when tablemates include a boss and a client.
So why in the name of Gordon “*&$@!” Ramsay would you order barbecued ribs or red-sauced spaghetti? Because you didn’t chat with Peter Post, an Emily Post Institute director, who leads business seminars, writes books (including one on business etiquette) and is a great-grandson of the legendary etiquette author.
We did and can tell you Post’s heard (and seen) lunch-hour horror stories that would curl the prosciutto on your flatbread. Which is why, especially at a business lunch, he’ll avoid foods requiring culinary gymnastics to consume. “You have to focus on the eating of the food when your focus really should be on the person you’re with,” he says. “To eat [such foods] in front of a boss or client would not be a really good idea — unless everybody’s ordering it. Then I’m OK with it.”
So what does he avoid?
Spaghetti or linguine: “People worry more about eating the spaghetti or linguine than they do about the conversation. That’s a big mistake. Choose anything that you don’t have to twirl and suck up into your mouth.”
Mussels: “I love them but I would never order them at a business meal. There’s a whole process for eating them and it’s all over your fingers.”
Lobster and ribs: Both are OK with Post at a lobster house or rib joint. “But if you’re at a regular restaurant and lobster is a special or one of the things on the menu, I would really steer clear of lobster.” And ribs? “The whole process of cutting them up and picking them up and the mess that comes with it is dangerous to say the least.”
Burgers: He loves a big juicy burger with fixings but, “I eat it differently at a business lunch. …Even if you can get your mouth through a bite, you know what happens at the other end of the hamburger — everything comes running out. When I eat one of those, I take the top bun off and eat it with a fork and knife.”
Meat with bones: His rule for lamb chops, pork chops, bone-in chicken: “Cut as much meat off the bone before you pick it up. If you’re the only person at the table [with that food] and you’re not the host or guest of honor, I would not pick up the bone unless someone like the host said ‘Peter don’t leave that lamb chop like that. You’ve got to pick it up and eat the last bits off it.’ If I order lamb chops at a business meal, I would eat what I could cut off and not pick it up unless I was given that OK.”
“Now, a caveat: If my boss is an absolute gross eater and I’m with a client, to emulate the grossness of my boss would probably not be good. So if I was at a business meal and had fried chicken, I would probably cut the stuff off that I could and leave the rest. I wouldn’t pick it up even if my boss was picking up his. I would probably leave mine alone just because I don’t want to put myself in that awkward position even if he’s willing to put himself in that awkward position.”
The sole goal of a going to a business lunch if you’ve been invited, he says: “It’s to be invited back again. …Imagine being at the table, doing a bunch of stuff that really annoys him and the boss never invites you again. That’s not where you want to be. That’s much more important than whether you ate all the fried chicken or not.”
Post’s three tips to remember for a business lunch:
Order a medium-priced item.
Don’t order something unless you know what it is. It’s not the time to experiment — you don’t want to sit there with a plate of food you don’t like.
Don’t order something difficult to eat. Save yourself the hassle.
When to lunching with coworkers, Post expects things to be more relaxed. Even then there may be meal-time mishaps and “awkward moments,” maybe when cherry tomato guts shoot across the table or balsamic vinegar goes wild.
“If it’s a little cherry tomato spritz, I’m going to apologize to the person. I’m going to offer to get shirt [or whatever] cleaned. You don’t jump in and try to wipe up the mess on the person,” he says. “If you dumped a glass of wine on the table, then you immediately get your napkin, you start blotting it. One of the people at the table — even as you’re doing that — is going to motion to a server for help. If I spill a glass of wine and it looks like it’s going to spill into someone’s lap say, ‘Please move back.’ I’m going to attempt to stop as much damage as possible from happening until the server can come and clean it up. Then let the server do their job. They handle this kind of a thing far more times than you ever have.”
And about spearing a frisky cherry tomato? “Use the flat side of your knife as a blocker and your fork to push the cherry tomato against the side of the knife. It holds the cherry tomato steady so you can apply a little steady pressure with the fork and the tines go right on.”
More on Dining Etiquette… here and here
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Watches Are Rediscovered by the Cellphone Generation
New York Times
Alex Williams, July 6 2011
MICHAEL WILLIAMS, who runs A Continuous Lean, a men’s style blog, ditched his Timex when he got his first cellphone in 2001.
Tyler Thoreson, the head of men’s editorial for Gilt Man, the flash sale Web site, often kept his forgettable watches stashed in a drawer.
And Eddy Chai, an owner of Odin New York, a downtown men’s boutique, gave up wearing watches regularly in his mid-20s, when he outgrew his Casio.
But after going watch-free for much of the last decade, the three men — all in their 30s and considered style influencers — are turning back time. Mr. Thoreson, 38, is shopping for a vintage gold IWC with a white dial or a Rolex GMT-Master. Mr. Chai, 38, has been wearing a vintage Rolex, loosely dangling around his wrist, “not as a timepiece, but as a piece of jewelry,” he said.
And Mr. Williams, 32, splurged on three watches: an IWC Portuguese, a Rolex GMT-Master II and an Omega Speedmaster, also known as the “moon watch,” since that is what Apollo astronauts wore.
“The men’s-wear set has recently rediscovered the joy of proper mechanical timepieces,” Mr. Williams said. “Right now there is no clearer indication of cool than wearing a watch. If it was your grandfather’s bubbleback Rolex, even better.”
As recently as a half-decade ago, time seemed to be running out for the wristwatch. With cellphones, iPods and other clock-equipped devices becoming ubiquitous, armchair sociologists were writing off the wristwatch as an antique, joining VHS tapes, Walkman players and pocket calculators on the slag heap of outmoded gadgets.
The wristwatch “may be going the way of the abacus,” declared a news article in The Sacramento Bee in 2006. The Times of London had it “going the same way as the sundial.” The Boston Globe, in a 2005 lifestyle feature, was more definitive: “Anyone who needs to know the time these days would be wise to ask someone over the age of 30. To most young people, the wristwatch is an obsolete artifact.”
Or, not.
The “sundial” of the wrist is experiencing an uptick among members of the supposed lost generation, particularly by heritage-macho types in their 20s and 30s who are drawn to the wristwatch’s retro appeal, just as they have seized on straight razors, selvedge denim and vintage vinyl.
“It’s an understated statement about your station in life, your taste level,” Mr. Thoreson said.
He got a taste of the pent-up demand last fall, when Gilt organized a high-end vintage watch sale with Benjamin Clymer, 28, who runs an online magazine for watch enthusiasts called Hodinkee.com. (Mr. Clymer, a former UBS manager, said his site attracts 250,000 unique visitors a month, more than half of them under 40.)
Fourteen of the 17 watches, with an average price of $4,800, sold in the first six hours. Gilt now holds a watch sale every month. “In certain circles,” Mr. Thoreson said, “if you don’t have a substantial timepiece with some pedigree, you feel like you’re missing out on something.”
To be fair, the doomsayers were not entirely wrong. Few people actually need a watch to tell time anymore. Melanie Shreffler, editor in chief of Ypulse, a Web site and market research company that tracks youth trends, observed, “even the high school and college students who wear watches usually pull out their cellphones to check the time.”
But that’s the point. A watch these days may strike some people as an impractical, frivolous and often costly way to express individual style. But that is just another way of saying that it’s fashion.
“Considering how casual most people dress on a day-to-day basis, a glamorous watch is one of the few accessories that can be at once sporty, luxurious and utilitarian,” the designer Michael Kors wrote in an e-mail. Mr. Kors has a line of oversize chronographs, manufactured by Fossil, that is popular among women (they are a current must-have accessory among under-30 fashion assistant types in Manhattan).
For a generation raised on Game Boys, however, the appeal seems to go a little deeper than just a desire for another fashion accessory. In a world surrounded by ever-glowing LCD screens, there’s an analog chic to wearing a mechanical instrument.
“A cool machine that is all moving parts has got to be intrinsically interesting to someone born into this generation, because there’s just nothing like that in their life,” said Mitch Greenblatt, a founder, with his brother, Andy, of Watchismo, a California online retailer of design-forward watches.
Increasingly popular these days, Mr. Greenblatt added, are so-called skeleton watches that have clear cases to show the whirring gears. “You want to see the parts moving,” he said.
Steven Alan, a designer who carries a curated selection of vintage watches in three of his boutiques, compared it to the techno-lust for McIntosh stereos with vacuum tubes. “Having some analog component in your life is refreshing,” he said. “I’ve noticed there are a lot of people shooting with film recently. People like that return to things that are very tactile.”
Indeed, a certain intimacy develops between the wearer and the mechanical watch that requires winding. “A mechanical watch relies on you as much as you rely on it,” Mr. Clymer said, with a hint of paternal affection. “Without you, it dies.”
The retro appeal also plays into the resurgence of heritage brands like Red Wing boots or Filson bags. Putting on a vintage Rolex “shows you’re interested in craft and well-made things,” said Matthew Hranek, a New York photographer who runs a men’s lifestyle blog, the William Brown Project, which celebrates vintage watches. “It’s the same thing if you’re wearing a pair of Alden shoes or go down to Beretta to buy a field coat and shotgun.”
Big retailers are trading on the nostalgia. J. Crew markets a line of simple, traditional Timexes (a brand not long ago associated with drugstores) as a heritage staple, the accessory that ties the whole Bobby Kennedy-does-Williamsburg J. Crew look together. “Timex brings a smile to your face,” said Frank Muytjens, the head of men’s design at J. Crew. “We all grew up wearing Timex.”
American Apparel is making a similar push with retro watches of a more recent vintage, betting that Generation Y consumers who were too young to remember when V.J.s ruled MTV will covet the Casios and Seikos from that era. The clothing chain started selling watches last December, when Dov Charney, its founder, had a hunch, perhaps after seeing old digital Casios embraced by the Brooklyn Flea set.
“Something inside me said, ‘Kids are going to love this object,’ ” said Mr. Charney, speaking by telephone from Seoul, South Korea, where he said he was shopping for dead-stock Japanese timepieces. The watches are now showcased in store windows nationwide.
HIS hunch is supported by industry figures. After plunging 35 percent in 2008, and another 13 percent in 2009, sales of moderately priced watches (between $150 and $1,000) have rebounded and are up 15 percent for the last three months, compared with the same period last year, according to Fred Levin, the president of LGI Network, a market research company that tracks the industry.
Luxury watches are faring even better. Sales of timepieces priced between $10,000 and $25,000 — Ferraris of the forearm — are up 33 percent.
The Swatch Group, the largest watchmaker in the world, is scrambling to add factory capacity after net profits rose 42 percent last year (the company, which owns Omega, Longines and a more than a dozen other brands besides Swatch, is also a dominant supplier of movements for other brands). Fossil Inc., which manufactures a jaunty mall-friendly line of watches under the Fossil brand, as well as licensed watches for design labels like Burberry and DKNY, saw its global watch sales shoot up 44.4 percent in the first quarter, after sliding 1.8 percent as recently as 2009.
But the newfound cachet of watches goes beyond a taste for the simple and the retro. Younger consumers continue to gravitate toward jumbo “statement” watches that are flashy, retailers say. If you are going to strap a clunky anachronism on your wrist, the thinking goes, people better at least notice it.
Consider, for a moment, a wrist Frisbee like Diesel’s all-black SBA chronograph. At 65 millimeters (2.55 inches) wide, it is nearly twice as big as many standard timepieces worn during Don Draper’s era.
And wrist armor like that turns heads, particularly in an era when everyone already seems to have the latest iPhone.
“The coolest electronic gadgets they buy now are owned by everyone else they know, too,” said Mitch Greenblatt of Watchismo. But “a really unusual watch is very likely to be one-of-a-kind in their circle of friends.”
A few years ago, Casio reached out to younger buyers by introducing bigger and more colorful models and marketing them with surfers like Gabe Kling and skateboarders like Stevie Williams. Since then, sales of its hefty rainbow-colored G-Shock and Baby-G watches have doubled year over year, according to Shigenori Itoh, the chairman of Casio America, in a statement issued through a spokeswoman.
But perhaps the most robust sector is the youth-friendly “fashion watch” category: watches licensed by labels like Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss and Lacoste. Fossil reports that sales of its Michael Kors watches were up 142 percent in the first quarter this year; for its Armani Exchange line, 129 percent.
“The increases are phenomenal, significant strong double-digit retail growth,” said Jon Step, president of licensed brands at Movado Group Inc., which has several such designer licenses. Manufacturers have courted younger buyers in part, he said, with exuberantly styled watches using extravagant or offbeat materials: brightly colored plastic, rubber, ceramic.
But for some newly minted watch geeks, the appeal of a timepiece that has endured for decades is more emotional.
“James Bond wore a Rolex,” Michael Williams said. “Who really needs more convincing than that?”
Tradition flies in the face of technology when it comes to telling the time
Back in Time
Power of Apparel: A Look That Conveys a Message
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The Attitude That’s Killing Your Career
Posted by dcraig in Professional/Business focused material on July 8, 2011
Forbes Blog
Chrissy Scivicque, June 30 2011
In a recent study identifying the most common career-limiting habits, “It’s Not My Job” came in second place.
This attitude is so prevalent in the workplace and, if you’ve ever worked with a person like this, you know how frustrating it can be. This is not the mindset of a team player. This is someone who is simply checking the box—doing the minimum required to collect a paycheck and unwilling to stretch beyond their tiny little bubble.
Okay, perhaps I’m oversimplifying things. But that’s how it looks.
Here’s the truth: We all have to set limits in the workplace. You have a job. Your tasks and responsibilities are clearly defined. You can’t simply take on everything people throw at you.
There are some things that truly are NOT your job; it’s your responsibility to set appropriate boundaries when needed.
I think this career-limiting habit is referring to the overall mindset of people who unreasonably resist taking on additional work even when it’s truly needed for the success of the team. There are times when we all have to do a little more to support others, even if it’s not specifically a part of our job description. That’s what it means to be on a team. Ultimately, at some point in the future, your teammates will do the same for you.
So how can you appropriately set limits without falling victim to the “It’s Not My Job” mentality? Here are some tips:
Pitch in and help others out when you can.
If you have the time and capability to do a little something extra to help out a team member, do it. Remember that there’s no harm in acknowledging that you’re doing him or her a favor, but don’t expect a perfect one-to-one exchange of favors. It won’t always happen that way.
Set limits for the right reasons.
It’s perfectly okay to say “no” in the workplace. However, there are good reasons (I’m at full capacity already, I’m not trained on that procedure, etc.) and there are bad ones (It’s not my job). Make sure that you’re setting limits for a valid purpose, not simply because you don’t feel like being a team player. Give a heartfelt and honest explanation about why you can’t help right now, but also avoid making overly lengthy excuses.
When setting limits, be helpful.
“It’s not my job,” is probably the most unhelpful sentence uttered in the workplace. It’s like a toddler screaming, “No! I don’t have to and you can’t make me!” It doesn’t do anyone any good. If you have to say no, show a sincere desire to resolve the problem. Offer alternatives and help find solutions. Come up with a few suggestions of how the work can get done without you.
Make it your job.
If you find that you’re constantly being asked to take on a task that truly isn’t in your job description, address it with management. Perhaps this should be your job. Perhaps you should have some authority and responsibility for it. Maybe you deserve a little added compensation as well. What a wonderful opportunity to discuss your role, re-evaluate your contributions, and demonstrate your willingness to go above and beyond for the team.
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