Impressive Impressions

I just finished reading “Impressive First Impressions” by Vu Pham and Lisa Miyake.

Their Amazon sales was supposed to support “Back to Work” wardrobe fund.

Makes sense. The motive to shop, the means to shop and the manual to shop till you work.

I picked up a few tips from this well-researched book: zip your fly first, then button your pants,

always reset your First Impressions according to new social context and contact etc…

But most importantly, I still remember meeting Vu at VSVN Southern California meeting a few years back: his demeanor,

his debate and his resetting in that hot summer afternoon.

At least he has a chapter on Virtual presence, which I think will be increasingly important given the rise and soon to be prominent Social Networking.

How to choose your Avatar, log on email ID, Skype ID, Yahoo Messenger chat ID etc…

each choice ultimately contributes to or erodes one’s personal branding.

And the photos also (Don’t post your naked baby pics. Your mom might think you were cute, but we don’t).

I remember well the IBM look in Direct Sales: blue navy, white shirt and power red tie.

(if teeth whitening were available then, they would probably have recommended it, along with breath deodorizer).

But as commending as it is, Impressive First Impressions will serve as a primer for the  stay-at-home spouse  who had forgotten that

the world of work is still operating on certain principles e.g. mutual respect.

Don’t answer the phone or keep talking in the bathroom, thinking you can save time.

Technology gives us convenience, but not excuse to undo century-old best practices of social courtesy and cohesion.

This happened back in the dot.com boom, when start-up entrepreneurs thought they can leap-frog some business basics, until the balance sheets were out of balance

and the VC’s started to send out the CV’s. We all learned hard lessons (that rules do apply, even for “little people down there”). And we all learn to press reset. Go through your wardrobe and weed out the red ties.

And while at it, adjust your attitude. You might have to take one notch down job, while dress one level up (to where you wanted to be). Then we are all back to where we started, this time, with Impressive First Impressions.