1. Personal Branding
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Redmond sets a classic tone at Echo
Entertainment: Why it shows he “loves
his staff”
By Myriam Robin | 13 December 2012
Casino operator Echo Entertainment Group has a new CEO, and he says he’s
nothing like the last one.
Larry Mullin, who left the CEO role in controversial circumstances last September,
has been replaced by the corporate conservative, John Redmond, who previously
sat on Echo’s board.
A veteran American casino operator who began his executive career in finance,
Redmond has made it clear he won’t be repeating Mullin’s signature jeans-and-shirt
look (a look that would not have allowed him past the bouncers in most VIP rooms at
Echo’s Star Casino).
“I have always felt that the tone you set at the top of the organisation establishes the
culture and what is acceptable in terms of performance,” Redmond told The
Australian Financial Review.
“When I walk the casino floor, for example, I have my jacket buttoned, so everyone
looks and thinks ‘I better button my jacket’. That is an example of setting that visual
tone.”
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2. Personal Branding
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Redmond, who the AFR says told chairman John O’Neill that Mullin wasn’t “CEO
material” in September, is happy to note the contrast between himself and his
predecessor.
“Put us next to each other, [and] just visually, Larry Mullin is a very casual person,”
Redmond says. Coming on top of his statements about top buttons and all that, it’s
clear he doesn’t approve.
June Dally-Watkins, Australia’s doyen of business etiquette who for the past 60
years has run a corporate finishing school, applauds Redmond’s view.
“I believe he’s absolutely correct,” she tells LeadingCompany. “He must set a tone
and an image.”
“There have to be rules and standards.
“I think the fact that this new CEO is getting tough with his staff means he loves them
and cares about them. Every human being needs to be encouraged to have a high
standard. Anyone can be low, uncaring, cheap and vulgar.”
Career coach and human resources expert Kelly Magowan says leaders certainly set
the tone with regard to attire. “If they’re more casual, so is everyone else, and vice
versa.”
Magowan says she thinks it’s important to have a dress code and stick to it in
professional environments. For client-facing roles, like those working at a casino
frequented by high rollers, the dress code should be more formal.
“First impressions do count, and there’s lots of psychology around that,” she says
“You can only create a first impression once,” she says.
“If you’re in client-facing role, there is a perception around your services. If you’re a
consulting company and you’re charging a fortune, and your consultants are going
out representing your company while dressed casually, of course that would create a
horrible impression.”
Image consultant and former fashion designer Jon Michail says technology firms
have inspired a casual-corporate look since the 1980s. But he stresses it’s not a look
that works for most businesses.
“Historically these companies didn’t deal with people, but with technology. So they
could let loose on those things. But if your business deals with human beings, if you
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3. Personal Branding
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look down-and-out, that’s how you message. If you’re really talented you’ll overcome
that, but you create hurdles for yourself.”
As the casualization of the workforce began in the 1980s, when staff began doing
shorter stints in each job, many leaders have forgotten their role in setting the tone of
the office,
Michail says. “Leaders have lost sense of what true leadership’s all about, and have
started presenting down-and-out.
“You could do that when things were booming. But you’ve got an American
[Redmond] coming from an American economy in serious trouble. They know where
strategic, powerful, influential leadership is important, [and] looking down-and-out will
not do that. Presenting influence, power and success also means the visual aspect.”
The ideal corporate attire, Magowan says, is neutral. It looks polished and tasteful,
but should fade into the background, letting people focus on other things when
interacting with you. “It should be just another uniform,” she says.
Dally-Watkins says this is forgotten by too many people, especially young ones, and
is hamstringing their careers.
“Your clothes should match. You should dress correctly. It makes you look important.
And it makes your staff look important and proud because they represent themselves
well.”
“Somebody has to lift up the image of young people because I am appalled. I’ve just
been around to my students – they’re wearing short skirts whether their legs are ugly
or not. They’re wearing dresses that show their bosoms. The magazines are
promoting it. Shoes, stiletto heels with high soles, they’re ugly and damaging to the
health of their legs, and they can’t walk in them and they’re too flashy.
“Everyone should be looking at your lovely face, not your shoes.”
In many business situations, traditional corporate attire (buttoned-up suits, clean-
shaven faces for the men and high heels for the women) isn’t the done thing. Dally-
Watkins says while clothes should be conservative and flattering, they should also
be in keeping with the culture.
“There are some businesses that are very casual, and in the suburbs. In those
workplaces you shouldn’t overdo it. You should dress accordingly because that
shows intelligence.”
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Magowan says dressing different for work is useful for psychologically preparing
people for the day. “There’s always been a separation between work and home,” she
says.
“Even in information technology environments, for instance, where there’s a more
casual dress code, it’s still a dress code. There’s still that group mentality aspect,
there’s still that tradition and sense of corporate identity and so on.”
Though most businesses will develop an unspoken standard naturally, informed by
how senior leaders dress, sometimes things can go wrong when this standard isn’t
written down.
“If you have no policy around code of behaviour or presentation, then people can go
awry,” Magowan says. “Most people do the right thing. Obviously it’s common sense,
but it’s worth having a formal statement in place because there’s a percentage of the
population who won’t do it unasked.”
For further information on this handout and the consulting
and coaching programs available please contact:
Image Group International
Asia Pacific Head Office
T: (+61 3) 9824 0420
E: info@imagegroup.com.au
www.imagegroup.com.au
©2012
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