Lisa Dugan Lisa Dugan is the EVP, Senior Consultant, and Executive Coach for Bixler Consulting Group. She works extensively with managers and executives in individual coaching sessions and team building sessions to enhance personal and professional potential. Her objective is to help individuals identify their strengths and manage areas of development. Ms. Dugan has been featured in many publications, including Smart Money, Today's Dietician, and The West Palm Beach Post. She has been featured on National Public Radio, WINGS, and in the TV show EXTRA! Ms. Dugan co-authored the best-selling book, TAKE ACTION! 18 Proven Strategies for Advancing in Today's Changing Business World published by Random House. TAKE ACTION! has been translated into Chinese, Russian, and German. Her second book, 5 Steps to Professional Presence: How to Project Confidence, Competence and Credibility at Work was published in January 2001 by Adams Media. Ms. Dugan holds a B.A. in Sociology from the Shippensburg State University in Shippensburg, PA and serves on the Executive MBA Advisory Board at Kennesaw State University. She is a chairperson for Vistage International, the world's leading Chief Executive Officer organization.

Lisa Dugan Lisa Dugan Executive Vice President

That's because image is often at the heart of the dressing-down trend, says Lisa Scherrer Dugan, Executive Vice President, The Professional Image. "Companies feel like some of their clients have gone to business casual," Dugan says, so they, too, dress down "to mirror and match that [client] behavior so that they don't feel overdressed when they work with them." So, the bottom line to corporate dressing is, casual or otherwise, image and impressions, according to Dugan. "It all goes back to how you want to be perceived," she says. When it comes to evaluating your competency, Dugan cites what she calls an age-old rule: 67 percent of perceptions about us is accurate, and 55 to 80 percent of what is believed about us is visual, not verbal. "It is about communication," she says. "What do you want to say about yourself and your business?" The best place to begin evaluating the fashion statement you're making is to have a quick conversation with yourself before you get dressed, Dugan says. Ask yourself, Who am I going to see today? What do I want to project about myself? What's going to be the best, image-wise? "It has to be a conscientious decision," Dugan says. "It's important for companies to give guidelines to their employees," Dugan says. "Some companies do put out some sort of, 'This is what we don't want to see' [lists]. Clearly it's difficult for them to identify this is what you have to wear." In the absence of written guidance, "A lot of times the way [business casual dress codes] get established in companies is by just word of mouth through the human resources department or management levels," Dugan says.

Lisa Scherrer DuganLisa DuganEVPLisa DuganLISA DUGAN is the EVP, senior consultant and executive coach for The Professional Image, Inc.She works extensively with managers and executives in individual coaching sessions and teambuilding sessions to enhance personal and professional potential.Her objective is to help individuals identify their strengths and manage areas of development. Ms. Dugan has been featured in many publications, including Smart Money, Today's Dietician, and The West Palm Beach Post.She has been featured on National Public Radio and WINGS and, in 1999 and 2002 appeared on the TV show EXTRA! Ms. Dugan co-authored the best selling book, TAKE ACTION!18 Proven Strategies for Advancing in Today's Changing Business World published by Random House.TAKE ACTION! has been translated into Chinese, Russian and German.Her second book, 5 Steps to Professional Presence: How to Project Confidence, Competence and Credibility at Work was published in January 2001 by Adams Media.Ms. Dugan holds a B.A. in Sociology from the Shippensburg State University in Shippensburg, PA and serves on the Executive MBA Advisory Board at Kennesaw State University.She is also a graduate of Context, a self-development series.She has been certified to deliver all assessment instruments used by The Professional Image.Back to Top | Back Home | Back Home Lisa Scherrer DuganLisa Dugan Read the Biographies of the Professional Image team, view Major Milestones of The Professional Image, Inc.

Presenter: Lisa Sherrer Dugan, VP, The Professional Image, Inc. Self-branding is taking your education, talent and skill sets and making these credentials immediately visible to the outside world.Every e-mail, voicemail and phone call you make creates the first impressions that build your self-brand.How impact full is your first impression?Are you viewed as having high potential?Do you know what you want to be known for?After this session, participants will be able to answer that tough question and will know how to convey their personal brand.