I know it may sound weird and different to some of you reading this, but if I am honest, I feel the most confident and “professional” when wearing a blazer, collared shirt, dark blue jeans and dress shoes. In business situations that do not require my wearing a suit, the blazer/jeans combo is my “go to outfit.”

(In fact as I write this post I am sitting at O’Hare Airport in Chicago, heading back home from a speaking engagement on the East Coast and, yes, I am wearing my preferred outfit, and NO the picture isn't me. But you already figured that out.)

So you can imagine my excitement when I was in Denver for a speaking engagement and I ran into a few colleagues that I used to work with when I lived in Colorado and they told me that the company changed it’s dress code since I worked there. The new dress code? 

Yep, you guessed it….blazers/jackets and dark blue jeans. 

The associates told me how they asked the leadership of the company to consider the change, how the leadership said “yes!” and how excited they all were about it. 

Now, some of you just had a conniption (is that how you spell it??) thinking about your people sitting behind their desks NOT in suits or traditional “business attire,” but in jeans! And I can understand why you might have some heartburn just thinking about it. 

BTW: This isn’t about jeans!

I don’t want you to get stuck on the issue of jeans, because really the “big picture” idea of this goes beyond jeans! 

The three main points I want you to takeaway from this post are:

1. The powerful message that was communicated to employees when the leadership of the company took the time to listen to the suggestion to change the dress code.
2. The willingness of the company to take a risk (and a change like this always poses a risk!) 
3. The positive impact of a company culture that encourages people to be vulnerable, take a risk and suggest an idea that may not be well-received. 

I know that jeans may not work for your corporate culture and/or your resident profile and that’s okay! The purpose of this post is NOT to advocate that you change your dress code, or that traditional business dress is something that you should move away from. After all I wear suits for all of my speaking engagements because I know that is what my clients expect from me. But, for my previous company the reorientation of the dress code made perfect sense, considering their company culture, resident demographic and geographic location. 

The point I want you to marinate on is that the leaders of the company thought enough of their people to listen and consider their ideas. And when they determined the idea had merit it was implemented. 

What kind of effect do you think that would have on an organization for associates at every level to know their listened to, that the environment is safe enough that they can take risks and that their ideas will be evaluated and given a “fair shake?” 

It’s powerful!!