The Guy Who Wears Running Shoes to Work

Good morning and happy weekend to you. I just finished up a nice six mile run on a very wintery day in Indianapolis. My post today is inspired by the spirited Twitter discussion on #sachat (Student Affairs Chat) about the role that your dress plays at work in Student Affairs. Here goes.


Admittedly, I’ve never been one to worry much about dress. Recently, though, this changed after I attended a meeting on campus in which an upper level administrator on the vice chancellor level invited a speaker to come and talk with a few of us about beginning a new learning community in Housing. I had an opportunity to say hello to the speaker before the meeting and she said, “oh, you are the guy who wears the running shoes.” Wow.

I was not Josh Skillman, “the guy who was nominated for Supervisor of the Year at IUPUI.”

I was not Josh Skillman, “the guy who received an award from the Black Student Union for my commitment to diversity and multicultural education.”

I was not Josh Skillman, “the guy who was commended at the Chancellor level for providing outstanding leadership during the three day Ice Storm Emergency last February.”

I was Josh Skillman, “the guy who wears running shoes.” Not even Josh Skillman, “the guy who’s a pretty good runner in Indianapolis. Nope, just Josh Skillman, “the guy who wears running shoes to work.”

This was not crushing to me because I am a runner and I made a conscious choice to wear running shoes to work each day despite knowing that the shoes did not match my otherwise professional attire (dress pants, dress shirt, sweater or tie on occasion). However, it was an eye opener. The person at the upper administrator level clearly described me to a guest on campus as “the guy who wears running shoes to work.” She did not talk about the content of my character or quality of my work. Rather, it was about the shoes I wore to work. There is a “perfectly logical explanation” as to why I was wearing running shoes, but I did not get the chance to explain why and in all honesty it would not have mattered.

On Thursday there was an intense debate on #sachat about the importance of professional attire. I rarely chime in on the #sachat feed, but even I felt compelled to share my opinion. I stated that “dress will get you in the door” and that “dress is important,” but that “your work is much more important.” And…I still believe that your work, the way you treat people, and coming through for those you are responsible for and to is most important to professional success. However, dress is an important factor as well. While I wish that we all would be evaluated solely by what is written on the pages in our book, it would be a mistake not to consider that your cover is of equal importance. If you don’t have a presentable cover, then some folks won’t care what is written in your book. For me, I was willing to live with some folks thinking it was weird that I wore running shoes to work. After all, I’m a runner and runners are kind of strange. However, what I learned at that meeting last semester was that the person sizing me up did not think of me as a runner, which is what I intended, but rather as a guy who wore running shoes to work. She could not have cared less about why or about my running. Unfair or not, this was the result of my choice.

So…what did I do? I went out and bought some very nice and comfortable black and brown dress shoes and started wearing them to work with my otherwise professional attire. While I personally may never really notice or care about what someone is wearing to work (as long as it’s not torn clothing, shorts, ripped shirts, etc.), there are people—people who can determine how far we can progress professionally—that do care. I could keep wearing running shoes to work and be seen as that “guy who wears running shoes to work.” And…I could draw my line in the sand and say that I’m helping students and my shoes don’t matter. And that would be fine. But…for me, it would mean that some people—key people-- would not take me as seriously and may not consider me for advancement. Ultimately, that would be a dumb move for me. Why work so hard and screw it all up over pride? Yes, I now wear dress shoes to work and I’ll do the same at conferences and other professional events. When I run, I’ll wear running shoes. When I coach runners, I’ll wear running shoes. Heck, when it’s Saturday and time to go to Target or the movies or Whole Foods, I’ll wear running shoes. But…at work, I’ll wear dress shoes because I’d rather be known for my good work than “the guy who wears running shoes to work.”

Have a great day and a wonderful weekend. Happy running to you!