How Coloring your Hair Can Carry an Executive Presence
Yes, your makeup and hair can exude executive presence . Women ask me all the time about their hair: “Do I keep coloring it or to let it go gray?”
In 2001, Hillary Rodham Clinton told the graduating class at Yale: “The most important thing I have to say today is that hair matters. Pay attention to your hair. Because everyone else will.”
As we age, we lose pigmentation in our hair, skin, lips, and eyes. Sorry, I don’t like it any more than the next person, but that is the ultimate truth. When women gray they tend to look older and washed out, while when a man grays he looks more handsome and distinguished looking. In our world today, more and more women are reaching out to look younger by doing things esthetically such as, Botox, Restylane, Juvederm, etc. If you are questioning your executive presence, consilder a course on Image Consulting Service for Women.
When is it Fashionable to be Gray?
Coloring your hair may also be one of those steps you take. This is such a simple solution, however, it can be a huge cost over time. It is just one of those maintenance things that need to be done, like getting an oil change to keep up your car.
Granted there are many Hollywood stars that have gone gray. Some of them look fabulous in their gray hair, such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Helen Mirren, and Paula Deen, just to name a few. However, as a corporate business women, a professional speaker, or an entrepreneur, we are viewed differently. People judge us not only on our capability but on our appearance. If you look like you don’t keep yourself up, people will get the impression you are not capable of doing good work for them.
How Gray Hair Styles and Color Contributes to Your Executive Prescence
In order to carry an “executive presence,” superiors must perceive what is involved. Moreover, for a woman to have polished professional images includes tasteful accessories, manicured nails, and a hairstyle that is fitting. The second-most important leadership signifier, no matter what type of shape or personality you have, gray and unkempt hair is often perceived as a lack of realization, energy, or engagement.
“Hair is Huge,” says Rose Weitz, author of Rapunzel’s Daughters: What Women’s Hair Tells Us about Women’s Lives,” Our hair is one of the first things others notice about us and one of the primary ways we declare our identity to them. Hair, and appearance more generally, matters in everyone’s lives, but especially in women’s lives. There is a wealth of research data that says that attractive people, but especially attractive women, get better grades in school, more dates, more marriage proposals, higher salaries, better job offers and so on.”
Hair Matters!
Just remember, when you change the color of your hair, you need to change the colors in your wardrobe and your make-up. If this is something you are struggling with, don’t wait to get some advise.
I wasn’t sure how I would feel about letting my hair go gray (in my case more like white), but I have been very happy about doing so and receive many compliments. There is a cultural bias against women doing this that we are perpetuating. Since I am an artist, perhaps I feel able to choose more freely than someone in a corporate role.
But there is no good reason why it gray hair should look good on men and not on women. I think the appearance aspect is better helped by good grooming, enhancing makeup as needed, and if hair color is uninteresting whether it is “dishwater blonde” or gray,etc., then it is appropriate to improve the color. I am delighted with the money and time that I save and can put to use more in line with my interests and goals.
I agree that whatever color one’s hair is, having a wardrobe and jewelry that enhance your appearance makes a person feel and look more attractive.