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4 Lessons from Washington on How to Dress Like A Leader

Over the years the fields of psychology and marketing have helped enlighten us regarding human perception and how our brains categorize and recognize the world around us.

Long before that scientific confirmation, some leaders intuitively knew that little details could influence human perception and that small changes, even changes in clothing, can lead to incredible results.

One of those leaders who knew that style mattered was the first Commander in Chief of the United States, General George Washington.

If we watch what General Washington did we can see that he was a great role model for the idea that if you want to be successful, you should take on the uniform on success. He would certainly be a big advocate for the idea that you need to dress the part, show our style and use clothes to help signal the image of a leader.

I’ll demonstrate how the idea of “looking the part” works by relaying a story about George Washington so you can see if this decision to “dress to impress” might have some merit.

According to Brad Meltzer in his book, The First Conspiracy, George Washington was invited to attend the early meetings of the congressional congress in Philadelphia back in the mid-1770s.

At that time the American colonies were still owned and ruled by England and many rebels in the colonies were getting sick of the taxation and lack of representation. These rebels decided that they wanted freedom from England. During this time George Washington lived in one of those colonies, the colony of Virginia.

Mr. Washington was a wealthy landowner in Virginia. Years earlier he had risen to the rank of colonel in the Royal army, but he had hung up his British uniform fifteen years earlier and in 1775 he was, in fact, head of the rebel militia in Virginia. Since he was a militia leader he was invited to the gathering of the new congressional leadership when they met in Philadelphia.

According to the research, Mr. Washington had shown up at the first meeting of the congressional congress in his regular clothes and was quiet and unassuming. He was supposedly “unremarkable” at the first meeting.

For the second congressional meeting, it was a completely different story. This time he packed his army uniform from when he had been a colonel fifteen years earlier, and he showed up to the second congressional congress meeting in full military uniform!

While other leaders came in their regular clothing, Mr. Washington stood out as a person of authority who commanded respect because he wore a military uniform that announced his skills and his talents.

It turns out that the agenda for this second meeting was for the leaders to figure out how to align militia groups from across the territories into one fighting unit. They needed an army that would be able to fight the English and win so they could have their own independent nation.

When the time came to vote for who should lead this national military, the rebel leaders decided that George Washington was the man for the job. The man who had risen to the rank of Colonel in the Royal army was now going to be General and the Commander in Chief of the rebel militias who were about to take on the mightiest army in the world.

George Washington’s attire had announced that he had the skills to do the job. In that group of leaders he stood out, and he signaled his knowledge through his dress so they took him seriously.

There are definitely two lessons to learn from Mr. Washington’s decision to wear a uniform to that meeting, and they are:

1 and 2: Know what you want, and dress for the role you want.

In General Washington’s case, he wanted to be a soldier for freedom from the English tyranny so he dressed in his military uniform to signal that he knew how to fight and that he was trained in tactics, etc. He hadn’t worn the uniform for the first meeting but he purposefully donned it in the second meeting because he wanted to make a statement. He had hung up that military uniform fifteen years earlier but because he was wearing it as he sat in the room he signaled that he was the man for the mission.

Others in the room may have also had a similar background, but he seemed like the right choice because he looked like a military man.

Do you think the uniform helped him get the job? Of course, it did. He literally stood out as the “obvious” choice.

3. While acting as General he kept up the look to announce himself as the leader to be rallied around. His attire helped him recruit.

When it came time for General Washington to gather the troops he took off to ride from Philadelphia to New York so he could meet a gathering of troops in NY.

Before he left Philadelphia he had a new uniform made, and he left town with a convoy of officers and carriages full of supplies.

When he was going through populated areas he would leave his carriage and hop on the back of a white horse to lead the convoy so the townspeople would see that the rebels had a leader and they were getting organized. General Washington realized he represented leadership, and he knew that stature and clothes could inspire hope and signal that the militias were prepared.

Villagers saw this new leader on his white horse leading the convoy and many decided to join forces and help him fight for liberty.

4. He continued to set himself apart as a leader when he was with the troops.

General Washington was in charge of converting groups of untrained men to fight against the strongest army in the world. The enemy had more guns, more training, and more men.

On top of all that, local militias were warring against one another, men who had no experience in war had joined up to fight, and more importantly, many of the volunteers in this new army had problems with excessive drinking, gambling, fighting, etc.

To develop a cohesive fighting force General Washington put out daily memos to the troops to alert them to the goals and rules. Then he went out on horseback to be among the men. He wore his full uniform, except this time he wore a light blue sash across his breast to indicate that he was different. He was a leader. He was crisp, detailed, and different, and the men realized it and respected his command. They wanted to please him and each other because they respected their mission and his command. He modeled leadership in his behavior and in his clothing.

General Washington knew that he was in charge of a rag-tag group of fighters, but he also knew that they’d rally behind him because he was a leader. He had the character of a leader, but he also needed to signal that as quickly as possible so he kept his uniform consistent. He didn’t go out and drink or gamble with the men, and every time he went out, he dressed crisply and with authority.

You know how the story ends, so he obviously was quite an effective leader and the United States of America stands today because of his bravery and leadership.

What lesson can we learn from this?

There’s so much to learn from that quick story. Imagine what would have happened if he didn’t wear that uniform at the second congressional congress, would he still get elected? Would another person be assigned that would be as effective? What if he failed to get out of the carriage when he passed through the villages? What if he didn’t go out among the troops? Would we be in a completely different world?

There’s no doubt that George Washington was an incredible leader and that he used all the tactics he could to make things happen. One of those was to dress like the leader he was.

What can we learn about leadership from that story?

The one really important takeaway from this slice of history is a reminder that just changing clothes could help us get new opportunities, or help us signal that we are someone who deserves respect.

Try your own experiment. Dress up in your best outfit and go to a few stores. Pay attention to how you are greeted and how the people interact with you. The following day put on your sweats and tee-shirt and go back. See if you get the same great service. You already know the results I’m sure. I know I can rattle off a bunch of examples of this in my own life, and I’m sure you can too.

Today we know that we can be influenced by dress, by marketing, by a lot of little tricks to change perception. We have all that knowledge yet we sometimes fail to use this to our own advantage.

Many would-be leaders will cram their heads with information but show up in jeans when they go to the interview because they mistakenly believe that dress and appearance aren’t really all that important.

Try doing the opposite and see how that works. Picture the most successful version of the role you want, and use clothes to demonstrate that you are a leader that you can meet the ideal. When you get the job, don’t slack off in your style, instead demonstrate and personalize your appearance and you’ll see how effective that can be.

Thanks for the lesson General Washington, and oh yeah, thanks for the freedom too!

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