I don’t know how Aloha Friday started or why it is not as wide spread as it used to be, but at one time everyone on a Hollywood set wore a Hawaiian shirt to mark the end of the week. In my craft we often work the weekend, but Friday is still the traditional end of the work week. On some crews we would get an extra long lunch break for wearing the flowery print. At some point I decided I would wear a Hawaiian shirt to work everyday, because I like the way it looks, how it feels against my skin, and because I like to have the breast pocket to keep cards in. Now, I am the “Hawaiian shirt guy”, as I have heard myself referred to. I guess there are worse things to be known for.
According to Jerry Seinfeld, success in his field is based on “work and thought and preparation”. Ronald Riggio stresses competence, conscientiousness, and common sense, which sounds like a similar formula to me. In the blog Mondo Frank, I read about the equation of PIE: Performance, Image and Exposure. He cites Harvey Coleman, saying that your job performance, how well you actually do what it is you are payed for, accounts for only about 10% of your overall success. Image, your personal brand, is what other people think about you and your personality. This factor, which some may say we do not have control over, but from the spiritual perspective is our sole creation, contributes 30% to our experience at work. The most important aspect in our career development, he says, is exposure, how many people know about you and what you do. When your name is mentioned at the plan bench do they say “yeah, he’s cool. Is he available?” Or do they look away, indicating they would rather not have you around. As I believe I have mentioned before, most foremen, because of the long hours we spend together, want to hire people they like, who they know they will enjoy being around. I am sure it is the same in any environment where people work closely together.
I am not the type of person to talk about myself a lot. At work I keep a pretty low profile, and try to be consistent and reliable in what I do. However, I do not hold back on expressing my opinion when I think it is appropriate. I have, almost accidentally, created an image for myself that most of my coworkers and bosses know: I am the hard working, reliable, conscientious, Hawaiian shirt wearing Buddhist. I don’t think that is a bad way to be thought of.