Author: Rebecca Healy

Photo by The Sartorialist.

Are we still having this conversation about jeans at work? Give me a break. Let’s be honest. It’s less about jeans and more about style. And even more than that, the issue is if women can wear jeans at work. Because men have been doing it forever. The Wall Street Journal reports:

The thing most power-jeans looks have in common is that the denim is dark and plain, and worn with the executive uniform: dark jacket, crisp buttoned shirt, good shoes. It’s as though the pants say, ‘I’m cool,’ and the rest of the outfit says, “I know how to conform.”

Jeans can suggest a leader is modern and confident, innovative, and willing to roll up those sleeves and work. There’s a bit of James Dean in the right kind of jeans (those worn without metal studs, acid washes, embroidery, skinny cuts or worn very low) and that hint of rebel can read as creative in a board room.

Denim at the Desk via Wall Street Journal.

Via WeHeartIt. 

My loneliness has definitely increased since my last job. I’m much happier, but I don’t interact with as many people daily. Maybe I should blog more? The New York Times reports that may not be such a bad idea:

Hundreds of daily updates come from friends on Facebook and Twitter, but do people actually feel closer to each other? It turns out the size of the average American’s social circle is smaller today than 20 years ago, as measured by the number of self-reported confidants in a person’s life. Yet contrary to popular opinion, use of cellphones and the Internet is not to blame, according to a new study released Wednesday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

In fact, people who regularly use digital technologies are more social than the average American and more likely to visit parks and cafes, or volunteer for local organizations, according to the study, which was based on telephone interviews with a national sample of 2,512 adults living in the continental United States.

Does Technology Reduce Social Isolation? via The New York Times.

My favorite thoughts from a recent interview with LinkedIn Co-Founder Reid Hoffman:

When you pursue an academic path, you basically write books that only 50 people will read. I wanted to have a much broader impact on the world, which you can do through software entrepreneurship. If you can create a piece of software that improves people’s lives, it’s infinitely replicable…

But one thing I learned in ’97, when I thought the right time to found a company was during a swing-up, is that it’s much better to start during an economic downturn. Partnerships are easier; hiring is easier; and the competition starts later…

One of my theses is that every individual is now a small business; how you manage your own personal career is the exact way you manage a small business. Your brand matters. That is how LinkedIn operates.

Via The Wall Street Journal.