Most leaders suffer from decision exhaustion. The solution may start with wardrobe.
Want to be a better leader? Try wearing the same clothes to work each day.
I always wondered why Steve Jobs always wore the same clothes. When I finally looked into it, it made sense. I was reminded of this recently when a co-worker sported the same Rush shirt on back-to-back days to show his support for the band’s upcoming tour.
The practice of wearing the same outfit each day started decades ago in Japan but caught Steve Jobs’ attention when he visited Sony. Years later, other leaders like Mark Zuckerberg and Barack Obama followed suit — literally. Now it’s quietly catching on with Gen Z.
No one is saying wearing the same shirt and pants every day. If you want a Sydney Sweeney-style closet with a see-through dress collection that could bankrupt small countries, go for it. Having a simple, repeatable wardrobe though isn’t necessarily laziness. It can be consistent identity.
If you love a specific look that fits within your company’s limits and makes you feel smarter, more confident, and adds a little swagger — wear it often. Who cares what Karen in the adjacent cubicle thinks.
BE YOU. It can be your logo.
Look at rock stars we love — they’ve got uniforms.
- Slash and his hat
- Bono in shades
- Kurt Cobain with flannel
- Sleep Token behind masks
When he was President, no one talked behind Obama’s back saying, “There he goes in a BLUE SHIRT AGAIN!?”
What you wear — especially what you wear often — will leave a mark. It’s like personal branding.
The premise here is simple: having one less decision to make in the morning means more mental energy for other decisions later in the day.
Whether this habit is any type of performance game changer is debatable. It’s likely more a mental motivator than anything but think about it as the first move in a daily chain of events. Every unnecessary decision you eliminate saves focus and energy for those that matter more.
I’ve been around long enough to know: the “what should I wear” crisis can drain time and energy from anyone, even the most strong-willed. It leads to decision exhaustion that sees them leave the house in pajamas. If you know, you know.
Now think about decision exhaustion in the radio world.
Music scheduling comes to mind first. That sense of doom right after hitting “schedule” — anxiously waiting to see how many unscheduled positions you’ll have and the time it will take to finish. That is followed by visually checking hundreds of segues that “passed.”
Now add everything else: other programming duties, promotional chores, an air shift, non-stop emailing and texting, meetings, maybe an appearance. That’s hundreds of daily decisions that need to be made. Most are small, but all draining.
And we wonder why managers or Program Directors look beat by 5pm, and why so many brands sound checked out.
Decision exhaustion hits all sectors of the music industry, not just radio. We won’t fix it by wearing the same turtleneck each day, but the principle applies:
Eliminate the small stuff, and save brain power for what really moves the brand forward.
Some basic ideas for Programmers and Marketers:
Log Help
Facing dozens of unscheduled positions? Call tech support. You may be one rule tweak away from a cleaner log and restoring some sanity.
The Firehose of Questions
Set “Ask me anything” zones (ex: 10:00am & 2:00pm) to move the random sales questions or pop-in visits into focused zones of efficiency.
Control Your Inbox
Only check email and texts at set times each hour. If it’s that important, someone will call or beat down your door. Use the rest for deeper stuff. Even 45 uninterrupted minutes can change your day.
Avoid the Redundant Questions
Design a pre-approved playbook or a brand guide that answers the redundant questions. When does this air? Should I post this? Does this tagline work? What deliverables come sponsorship?
Focus Hours
Everyone gets a “do not disturb hour” for focus and productivity, not interruption.
Meeting Overkill
Cancel every unnecessary meeting. Shorten and focus the others. Most meetings are low-productivity time-killers once labeled as critical.
In the end, it’s not what you wear each day. It’s what you stop wasting time on.
Like freeing up space on a hard drive, your needle-moving brain needs memory to run.
Keith Cunningham is a music industry and Rock/Alternative columnist for Barrett Media and the founder of Black Box Group, a modern-modeled creative & strategic consultancy built for brands that need strategies with teeth. He’s the former Master of Mayhem at 95.5 KLOS-FM in Los Angeles for over a decade, a nationwide consultant, and has been repeatedly voted one of America’s top Program Directors and strategic thinkers. Keith has built his career by taking multi-million-dollar brands from worst to first and leading Marconi & Gracie award winners along the way. A data nerd with a rock-and-roll heart, he is an advisory council member for St. Jude fundraising, a fantasy football champion, and lover of his daughters & dogs. Reach him at keithblackboxgroup@gmail.com or on LinkedIn or X.
Einstein did it, too.
wore loafers so he did not spend time tying shoes.