Attire Matters

Today, I got to go to Francis Xavier College in Tirunelveli as part of a faculty development program. I was helping facilitate it. Over the course of the event, I made a really interesting observation about the power of attire.

So, picture this: a man walks on stage wearing a suit and tie with polished shoes. People in the audience would feel intimidated and think that he was someone very important and out of reach. This man wouldn’t feel approachable. In contrast, imagine the same man in jeans and a shirt with sandals. This would ease the crowd into things and make them relaxed. It would make them feel like the man is one of them. Right?

This interesting technique is what the MD of the IT company I was with used to break the ice between the team and the college professors. His demeanor put them at ease and helped them open up. As expected, when faced with a stranger, the professors were a little shy, and we had a formal icebreaking session with a game to put them at ease. However, I think attire also had a part to play here. After all, it’s not every day a professor listens to a session and takes notes.

Ohh, on a side note, it was really strange to see teachers taking notes. They’re usually the ones giving the notes and glaring at you when you don’t write them down fast enough. Watching that felt like a movie and was also strangely humbling in the sense that people often do things completely opposite to what they are used to.

Anyway… I have another day of the program tomorrow. Let’s see what surprises are in store for me there.