Even successful people may need their image enhancing for career growth.

‘A’ had a good position in a large company and discussed a promotion opportunity with his boss. The boss told him “You are a very competent and experienced and you are great at your job – but you are not yet promotable. The next level demands very strong leadership qualities which you may have inside but you have not yet demonstrated. When you come into the room everybody should recognize you as a leader. I know what it looks like but do not know how to explain to you how you can achieve it.” It was the end of the conversation and it could have been the end of his career aspirations. Luckily ‘A’ realized that he needed to enhance his self-presentation, appearance and body language. We worked at it and very soon he was offered a better job. Since then nothing has stopped him moving ahead.

A new level of success often demands a stronger professional image especially now when competition is really tough. Education, experience and skills are often not enough to move forward. A lot of people don’t realize it. ‘A’ was lucky - he was told the REAL reason that was holding him back. For the majority of people inappropriate self-presentation is almost always a HIDDEN REASON for non-achievement. People don’t realize that there is something wrong with their self-presentation and others don’t tell them about it because they can’t put it into words or they think the subject is too personal. 

Having the right image is not the same as being beautiful.

‘B’ - a boutique owner - is a beautiful, impeccably dressed and well-groomed lady with the manners and body language of a confident and highly polished individual. I went to her boutique looking for some new clothes and spent quite a long time there. During this time a few people came inside to look but they only stayed for a short time and no-one bought anything. We talked a bit about different things and then she said that she would probably have to close the shop as there were not enough customers. This boutique was in the centre of a large town on a busy street. The location was perfect and the shop windows displayed beautiful and reasonably priced items. The reason was ‘B’ herself. She looked beautiful but her self-presentation made her unapproachable and even intimidating. We softened her image, made her look more approachable and friendly (still keeping her beauty). She didn’t have to close her boutique.

For ‘B’ it was really fortunate that she had the chance to speak to a professional image consultant – someone who could identify the reason for her losing business. She was amazed to see that the way she presented herself was putting off customers. She was beautiful, polished, impeccably dressed. What more could she do? The right image is an appropriate image, not just a beautiful appearance.


If you do the same thing you will get the same thing.

‘C’ is a financial adviser. For more than 5 years he advised individuals on financial issues. Then he decided to try to take his business to a new level and to start advising companies. Every time he approached a company he was rejected and never told why. The reason was that his image didn’t correspond to the level of business he wanted to get. ‘C’ tended to wear low-quality, ill-fitting suits. His body-language was poor and his knowledge of business protocol (including email manners) was very light. In summary everything about his self-presentation fell short of the mark. We updated his professional image and now he has a number of companies on his client list.

If ‘C’ had not updated his image he would continue to work but his business would not have reached its full potential. The way he presented himself was acceptable for his existing clients and corresponded to the money he earned. He did not project the level of confidence and success necessary to take his business to the next level.

Finding the reason for unhappiness in yourself.

‘D’ is a young woman, married with one child. Her problem was her relationship with her husband, or, to be more precise, the absence of a relationship. They never spent time together, he often ignored her and rarely took her with him to corporate events. She told me that at the beginning of their life together everything was different, but after their child was born and she stopped working her husband’s attitude changed. ‘D’ came to me with a question “What is wrong with me?” The first thing I saw was a woman who had stopped presenting herself as a woman, with not the slightest effort to look attractive. After a short conversation it became apparent that she had stopped being an interesting person. Since having her child she had stopped reading and generally stopped developing as an individual. The only subjects she could speak about were her house and her child. We enhanced her appearance, she started to read again and watch programmes on TV other than soap-operas. This helped her to re-train her conversational skills. Her relationship with her husband improved beyond recognition. Now he treats her differently and is proud to take her out.

A lot of people blame others if something goes wrong in their life. Others passively wait for a miracle to happen. Both approaches are doomed to failure. This woman was really intelligent – she decided to find the reason for her unhappiness in herself and to eliminate it.