Have you got 'the CEO look'?

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Have you got 'the CEO look'? 12

Governance | Rowena Lewis | 21 Jun 2010

A recruitment consultant told delegates at Acevo's Future Leaders Summit they had to 'look' like a chief executive to get the top job. Rowena Lewis questions why.

If I told you that your ‘look’ is more important than your credentials in getting that first CEO role, would you believe me? Probably not. If a headhunter told you that in order to obtain the top job you must ‘look the part’, would you be inclined to listen?

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Acevo Future Leaders Summit, a quick-fire set of presentations and veritable pearls of wisdom from 15 individuals sharing their experiences with an audience of aspiring CEOs. One presentation however left me cold. David Fielding MBE of Tribal Resourcing kicked off with the assertion that before we think of going for the ‘top job’ we should ask ourselves...‘do I look like a chief executive?’

A ripple of self-critique shimmied through the audience, as we were invited to assess whether our own image was up to scratch. And I was left wondering how I could be so naive as to think that our credentials and collective contribution to leadership in the sector might suffice.

Fielding went on to give an account of a recent interview with a candidate. Whilst I assume the candidate must have looked good on paper for Tribal Resourcing to have taken an interest, he made what appears to be the cardinal error of wearing a spike through his eyebrow. Fielding was compelled to say ‘talk to me about the piercing’, to which the candidate replied ‘I want to be true to myself’. Fielding’s opinion on the matter was made clear at last week’s conference: "Be true to yourself," he said, "but let’s be honest, you ain’t gonna get this job!"

Hang on a minute, have I got this recruitment business all wrong? If I were chair, looking to recruit a new CEO, I wouldn’t give two hoots about a piercing. I would be concerned with finding the absolute right person for the job, someone who demonstrates that they are capable of translating the vision into action and organisational success. There’s a misplaced sense of priorities when a search agency is prepared to make a judgement on the basis of looks rather than competencies.

Fielding suggests that us women might consider being remembered for what we can contribute, not for our dangly earrings. Similarly men cannot afford to malinger with a half-hearted knot in their tie. As icing on the cake, Fielding reminded the men in the room about gender-sensitive hand-shaking, with an appeal not to "crush a woman’s hand".

Ok, I’ve heard this kind of talk before. Let’s not delude ourselves. Image consultancies are rampaging through the corporate world making big bucks out of telling women how to ‘dress for success’. But I would challenge whether bought-in expertise on the right shade of lipstick or the optimum height of heels has standing in any workplace, let alone the sector that supposedly embraces and champions diversity.

That said, I may be hyper-sensitive to all this talk of stereotyping appearance. At the tender age of 32 I am still ID-ed at the off-licence. And I’ve been told on several occasions that I might be ‘taken more seriously’ if I changed the way I dressed or rethought my hairstyle. I could have given serious consideration to this well-meaning advice, but frankly, I have no intention of hiding behind a homogenous uniform in order to progress my career. As it happens I would prefer to be judged on the basis of my contribution rather than how I look.

Am I naive or do I represent a set of civil society that is no longer prepared to engage in a dialogue around stereotypes or to tolerate the assumption that leadership ‘looks’ a certain way? Time to challenge the status quo methinks. The fact is talent comes in different packages.

Directory: Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO)
Who's Who: Rowena Lewis

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Donald Rust
Head of Product Development
LeadershipTrust Foundation
3 Aug 2010

I agree Rowena, to be proportinal when making judgements is a limiting response. Awareness and controlling our prejudices when we make judgements, decisions and selection is a powerful strength.

[Reply]

Sarah Pyke
7 Jul 2010

Interesting stuff! I was recently reminded of the small, often subconscious, judgements that are made constantly about appearance when, in last week's heat, and unusually for me, I wore a dress to work.

The comments from my colleagues were immediately forthcoming: they were complimenting me on a personal level, but I also felt that their approval was a way of rewarding and reinforcing gender norms, a comment on how I, as a woman, 'should' present myself more often, and that, thanks to my unproblematic conformity, they were taking me ever so slightly more seriously in a professional context. Clearly it's my choice to wear whatever I want to - but it's salutary to realise that it's a choice that could have wider implications for my career.

Social stereotypes affect even our most apparently innocuous decisions - what to wear to work, for example. In my opinion, it's the stereotypes, not the clothes, that need addressing.

[Reply]

Rowena Lewis
Head of Fundraising and Development
The Fawcett Society
20 Jul 2010
Response to [Sarah Pyke]

Fabulous observation Sarah, thank you for sharing

[Reply]

Carl Allen
none
none
25 Jun 2010

Most CEO's need to be both unique and standard issue.

The application process and the interview itself requires the applicant not to be a supplicant ... to solve for the interviewing panel the contradiction of being both unique and standard. And answer to the dilemma of looking unique or standard.

There is the assumption, right or wrong, that each applicant at this stage exceeds the minimum standard. And that any definition of the best for the job is a subjective opinion.

[Reply]

Helen Rice
chief executive
blackfriars advice centre
25 Jun 2010

I completely agree Rowena, ar'nt we meant to be different in this sector? As a female CEO I know that women have a difficult time being taken seriously.. but I still enjoy wearing bunches to shake it up a little! I think it is important to set an example however.. it just depends what example you want to set.....

I think we have to accept however that for certain occassions it is worth doing all you can to get where you want to.. so play the game to get in.. then set your own rules!

[Reply]

Ian Larkham
Operations Director
The Printing Charity
23 Jun 2010

I do appreciate your sentiment. However the reality is we operate within a sector where image and traditional values are still respected, by the current generation of trustees and grant makers.

I do wonder how you dress for other special occasions? In applying for a CEO post the outcome of the interview may be life changing for you and the staff you are responsible for in post. Looking the part shows that a person has prepared and thought about the interview, in dressing appropriately for the role. I think David was making the point, how we look is an important aspect of the overall employment process.

For me, how I dress for a situation sets the tone for the occasion and gives me confidence, this is based on a track record of delivering results. How I look is just the finishing touches.

In an ideal world you are right it should be based on who we are and not just on the packaging. My view is its better to change values from within an organisation once you have gained the trustees respect and confidence.

I also wonder how ethical it is to share things out of context. The presenters took time to share their experience with us as future leaders in confidence. I would think twice about openly sharing my experiences at a conference, if the confidences were not maintained. That said its good to question and debate issues affecting our sector.

[Reply]

Udeni Salmon
Consultant Researcher
ACEVO
23 Jun 2010

Thanks for another thoughtful post, Rowena.

For those of you who are interested in this topic, ACEVO is running a short research project examining the barriers to women becoming Chief Executives in the voluntary sector. If you are a woman hoping to become a Chief Executive, or otherwise involved in Chief Executive recruitment, it would be great if we could learn from your experiences.

Please get in touch with me at udeni.salmon@acevo.org.uk

Many thanks
Udeni

[Reply]

Anon
22 Jun 2010

Thanks for the post Rowena. I also found the event on Friday excellent - and I highly recommend the new ACEVO book written by Ruth Lesirge and Fiona Ash on How To Be a New CEO. I found David Fielding's session really interesting, but found his advice on looking like a Chief Executive worrying. Do we really work in a sector that values equality and diversity but will only employ senior staff who look all identical?

Is this a candid explanation of the real recruitment picture? Are we naive to think that employers and funders won't judge us on our looks? Let's hope not....

[Reply]

Alison Clarke
freelance journalist
women's views on news
22 Jun 2010

I accept what you say Rowena but the trouble is that people make judgements all the time about how we look. We all know the story about interviewers who make their decision about someone in the first 10 or 15 seconds. In other words, we all stereotype whether we admit it or not.

I have to say that if someone came to an interview with a prominent piercing I would ask questions about them. The first question would be - if that person is to represent the organisation, does wearing a piercing help the "brand" of the organisation and the image that it is trying to project of itself. Secondly, I would ask whether being true to himself was so important he could not consider whether it was appropriate to wear the piercing at the interview. He obviously thought it was but I would say that his own "brand" was therefore more important to him than that of the organisation. On that basis, I might well not want him and that is a valid assessment.

So I suppose my take on this would be that we don't all have to conform to the besuited, corporate world, but we do all have to think sometimes how our appearance might impact on the wider world around us which we do, after all, want to influence. Sometimes, therefore, maybe we have to compromise but without losing our sense of who we are.

[Reply]

Daniel Fletcher
Head of Partnerships and Fundraising
The King's Fund
22 Jun 2010

I think it can depend on how much your organisation is beguiled by the formualic approach of external advisers. I have certainly seen civil society organisations choose to follow formulae, such as what a CEO should look like, on what I perceive to be the misguided notion that one size fits all for charities. Such a notion is an easy one to purvey if you are outside the sector wishing to sell your wares into it.

However, as Rowena expounds, civil society is much more diverse that that, which is something that differentiates it from the corporate world. And fortunately there are many great examples of charities and their CEOs standing out AND being successful, while conformity often produces mediocrity.

[Reply]

Anon
-
-
22 Jun 2010

Tempted to say that the ideal attributes for a charity CEO are to be white, male and public-school-educated, but I guess the truth is that we as humans, despite our best efforts, are hard-wired to judge people visually as well as by their achievements.

The problem for CEOs is that often they will need to get individuals onside with their cause, such as MPs, government officials, funders, even their own staff. So anything which, rightly or wrongly, may diminish them in the eyes of others, must be eliminated.

Having said all that, Camila Batmanghelidjh does alright and she doesnt look like your typical CEO. Then again, she got where she is by building up her own charities rather than getting on the career ladder.

[Reply]

Emma Halls
Chief Executive
Prostate Cancer Research Foundation
22 Jun 2010

Well said Rowena!!

[Reply]

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