Innovate your professional image!

Did you think that innovation only applied to business? Think again -- what about your professional image. How do you project yourself as a professional in the business world. What about the issues that influence your perceived inage? Read this interesting paper on creating a positive professional image, published in 2005 on the Harvard Business School Working Business site.

Interviewed, is Laura Morgan Roberts
Published: June 20, 2005
The interviewer and author is Mallory Stark

Here is the executive summary quoted from the article:

"People are constantly observing your behavior and forming theories about your competence, character, and commitment, which are rapidly disseminated throughout your workplace," she [Laura Morgan Robers] says. "It is only wise to add your voice in framing others' theories about who you are and what you can accomplish."

There are plenty of books telling you how to "dress for success" and control your body language. But keeping on top of your personal traits is only part of the story of managing your professional image, says Roberts. You also belong to a social identity group—African American male, working mother—that brings its own stereotyping from the people you work with, especially in today's diverse workplaces. You can put on a suit and cut your hair to improve your appearance, but how do you manage something like skin color?

Roberts will present her research, called "Changing Faces: Professional Image Construction in Diverse Organizational Settings," in the October issue of the Academy of Management Review."

To read more about the interview, go to:
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/4860.html

cmblignaut@ewklibrary.com