“A hairy body and arms indicate a manly soul.”
The headline quite comes from Juvenal, a Roman. Rather fond of hair apparently.
As I understand it, he’s not the only one.
A lack of facial hair has been a rule in business for many years. The reasons why are pretty solid. I remember as a child being told by a neighbour never to grow a moustache or a beard, as it indicates vanity. That was the mid 70s, and the neighbour was an elderly woman.
Since then studies have shown that some people associate facial hair (on a man, of course!) with vanity and eccentricity. Facial hair even makes some people think of dishonesty – as a beard can hide the mouth to some degree. So for me, that’s a good enough reason to be clean shaven.
But according to a recent article in the FT, beards are making a comeback amongst the upper echelons of business. Specifically, a few company owners and CEOs are sporting beards in London these days. Apparently they now see beards as a sign of social standing. That is, people like you and I might need to shave (unless you are female of course!), but the wealthy don’t need to.
A wee confession. I wore a goatee for a few years while promoting my PersonaPR book in the U.S. I decided it was worth it to look different, to cut through the clutter of competition from hundreds (if not thousands) of other professional speakers. Not really sure whether it was the right decision, but as I went back into corporate life I lost the beard.
So, can CEOs afford the luxury of looking eccentric? Richard Branson’s breaking of the rules of business deportment has never harmed him. When training executives in personal branding I always advise a conservative appearance for business. At this stage, I have no intention of changing my advice.
But are the rules changing? What do you think?
Kieran Bird
