The past few years have seen a significant upturn in the number of men wearing their facial hair “loud and proud,” both inside and outside of the office—a trend spanning industry, age and even socioeconomic groups—leading to the inevitable question: “To beard or not to beard?”
Growing a beard in a corporate world is not that easy, The key thing to remember when considering a beard in the workplace is common sense which unfortunately isn’t very common. For the first time in more then a century, a growing number of the world’s
business leaders are sporting facial hair. Beards grace the faces of CEO’S, MD’s and even National Leaders.
According to the global research firm, beards are now welcome in the workplace–but they must be groomed. This is where that common sense thing needs to kick in. Just simply growing a beard with no direction is not done, there would always be a question from your management or from your peers, – why can’t you trim the beard but when you keep it groomed and look professional with a long beard, it gets you the respect for your neat and cool look. It should’t be that your colleagues say ” Nice” and walk of, it has to be “WOW”.
Don’t Be a Trend Setter, Be the Game Changer
People find the stubble to be a sign that the wearer does not groom regularly, both not committing to a clean shaven look or a groomed beard.
Having a stubble does not mean you have a beard. That is still a stubble. You may find a lot of men with well defined stubble’s in the corporate world but the beard still remains a hard one to spot. Having said that we do notice an acceptance to it. Doing board room meetings with top management industry professionals and a lot of them compliment a bearded look.
Beards have come a long way in recent years…and so has business. With the Silicon Valley boom and younger entrepreneurs making their way into board rooms across the country, facial hair is quickly becoming more acceptable.
It’s important to identify what look works for you and what doesn’t and that also account for the length of that beard you want to maintain given the profile you hold and the kind of clientele you interact with. Not everyone can carry off the beard in a suit now can they?!
A beard has the ability to have you stand on both sides of the fence. It comes down to how you want to be perceived. You can be the person who looks like an unmotivated,
scruffy individual or you can choose to be that person whose stride and persona exudes confidence and is successful, driven and motivated with life. You have to become one with the beard. It is not an extension of you but a part of you…
Regardless of heavy work load and family responsibilities, still taking time to groom the beard and cuddle it like its your baby and taking care of it makes you a true man and a professional. Meeting a client, dinner with the team, a transition to clients location and a coffee with boss, all this with a neat long beard gives you a confidence that you can handle any given task.
So Start Wearing your Beard Responsibly in Office.
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.Co – written by – Mithun Rodwittiya & James Samuel ( BBC Members & Responsible Bearded Men )
Style Partner – Indigo Nation
Grooming Partner – Beardo for Men
Cover Pic by – Sumesh Vasudevan