What’s in a colour ?

I recently decided to shift a shade and dye my hair a marshmallow pink. The first thing my mum said to me was "did you check with work it was ok?". She seemed really concerned and anxious. The question had never entered my head. When I then went into work my manager said she loved my new hair. I thanked her but also said I was nervous to show her as I might be in trouble. My manager didn't understand what I would be in trouble for.

Me trusting the process and not feeling 100% gorgeous just yet

This made me think about the impression our appearance has in our professional life. I think I was afraid that I would be 'less than' for being different. If my mum had said that to me I would have instantly felt that was nonsense. My organisations culture is one of support for initiatives and trying to be different in order to make the difference. But when we judge someone's ability based on their appearance this short sighted thinking is at work. We have all been guilty of assuming the guy in the suit wearing glasses is the smartest in the room! On reflection, it feels important to look credible, clean and with the right gear for the job but this shouldn't be at the detriment of expressing yourself. Leadership is strongly linked to being authentic and you can't do that when you don't even look like yourself.

My hair change also highlighted for me the generational changes in the working world. I think in the past people working at the council had to be serious and beige. I think things are changing. To encourage diversity we have to relax the rules on uniform.

Final product !! Lovely pink 💕

I'm summary, I love my pink hair. It has helped me express myself and bring me joy. A change can create a sense of progress and devlopment. I also think the colour suits me and so I feel a lot more confident. Surely that's what we would want for our colleagues and employees.

What do you think? Is a bold look right for a leader? Should management only be bland?