I have a mohawk. I’ve had it for years. Not because it’s a power move. Not because I read some LinkedIn post about “personal branding.” I have one because I’ve had a rebellious streak a mile wide since my punk days in the UK in the early 90s, and frankly, I never outgrew it.
But here’s the interesting thing: over the years, I’ve discovered that the mohawk has turned out to be really useful in a business context. I didn’t expect this; I assumed that it would be something that I’d have to overcome, but that price was worth paying to express the “real me” and be myself. However, that’s not how it turned out. Here’s the advantages I’ve seen:
Authenticity is king
We live in an era where everyone talks about authenticity but most people are terrified of it. Having an unconventional hairstyle shortcuts the whole performance. Nobody looks at a mohawk and thinks “this guy is carefully curating a safe, inoffensive image.” It immediately signals that what you see is what you get.
Being authentic is also as much signalling what I’m against as what I’m for. You cannot be both authentic and universally accepted. Some people are not going to like your authentic voice. That’s OK.
The signal has value. In a world full of polished facades, people gravitate toward the person who is obviously, visibly, not pretending.
The Douche Detector
This is my favourite advantage. I don’t get on with authoritarian leadership styles. Never have. And authoritarians, almost without exception, do not get on with unconventional personal appearances. The mohawk acts as a filter, I call it my “douche detector”. Within seconds of meeting someone, I can read their reaction and know whether we’re going to be able to work together.
I once took a job as CEO of a newspaper working for a boss I already knew was deeply authoritarian. I knew it because of the detector. I had to cut the mohawk off for that role, which was worth it because the experience was amazing. I was right about the boss, though.
Interesting people are interested
I’ve had people walk up to me at events and say “you look like the most interesting person in the room”. Those people almost always turn out to be interesting themselves. The mohawk is a conversation starter, and it tends to start good, worthwhile, conversations.
It’s a self-selecting filter that works in both directions; the bad people are repelled and the good folks are attracted.
You will remember me
You know that thing where you talked to someone at a conference, and then you run into them six months later and have absolutely no recollection of the previous conversation? Yeah, that doesn’t happen with me. People remember the guy with the mohawk. And when someone else needs to refer to me, it’s pretty easy; “Marcus, you know, the guy with the mohawk”. Everyone immediately knows who that is and whether they’ve met me.
This is a huge advantage when networking. Trying to stand out of the crowd is difficult, especially when everyone looks the same. I have an easier job of it because of my haircut.
The disadvantages are real
I’d be dishonest if I pretended it was all upside, though.
Sometimes people have an immediate, kneejerk, negative reaction. Sometimes my opinions carry less weight in a room because people have already made assumptions about me based on my hair. That’s disappointing when it happens.
But here’s the flipside: those people are generally judgemental about everyone, not just me. They’re the ones making snap assessments about everybody in the room based on surface signals. And in my experience, they’re usually the less interesting people to work with anyway. Also, I’m never going to have the right shoes, or the right cut of jacket, for those people. It’s probably better to be waaaay outside their comfort zone than subtly not fitting in anyway.
Punk is dead, long live professionalism
When I first had a mohawk in the early 90s, it was a non-starter in any professional context. I had to cut it off for my first proper job as a computer operator. That was just reality; unconventional appearances were not tolerated in business. Part of being a punk was that signal; the unconventional appearance ruled out being a wage slave.
Attitudes have shifted enormously since then. Not uniformly, the conservative folks tend to hang on to older social mores. But the general direction of travel is clear. Personal appearance is less and less of a proxy for competence or professionalism.
As the years go by, the reactions get milder. More people are used to unconventional looks. Tattoos, piercings, coloured hair, are all becoming normal and acceptable. Maybe I’ll have to get a facial tattoo to keep up ;)
However, I want to be clear about something: none of these advantages are why I have a mohawk. I have one because there’s a part of me that has never stopped being the punk kid from the 90s. The rebellion came first. The business advantages have been something I’ve discovered along the way, and been surprised by.
If you’ve ever wondered whether being visibly, unapologetically yourself might actually help rather than hurt your career, then maybe try it. My experience has been that it helps. Not always. Not with everyone. But with enough of the people who can help you. And the ones who are turned away were probably never going to help anyway.