"Why are you wearing a suit?"

I seem to have generated quite a few questions over the last few weeks about why I've suddenly started turning up for workshops and meetings in a suit.

This, after years and years of t-shirts, jeans and trainers.

I invested in my first new suit for some years, when my daughter Rachel and her partner Cal invited us all to their Civil Partnership celebrations at the end of May and, to be frank, it felt good to dress up a bit.

So when we returned from our annual sojourn in Greece at the start of August, I decided to enjoy that same feeling when presenting at workshops and meeting with clients.

I'm a couple of new suits in now and also building up my collection of Paul Smith t-shirts - some further purchases will be required when the weather turns colder.

I was quite the snazzy business dresser back in the day, the man in the suit and crombie in the 80's, the man in black (as some may remember) in the noughties - and then I kind of lost that plot after experiencing a series of business setbacks - my departure from professional business clothing was, in retrospect, symbolic of my rejection of "all the things that were unpalatable about the cut-throat world of business."

Perhaps my self-esteem and my enjoyment of the commercial world have returned, after 10+ years, to the extent that I feel I can look the part again.

As if the devil were tempting me, on Tuesday I was asked to present a team training day at the Porsche showroom in Preston - talking customer service, clinical care and teamwork, surrounded by about £2m of beautiful supercars. I've never owned a Porsche and have to admit that a 911 of some sort has always been on the bucket-list.

As I jumped in and out of said models - versions ranging from £110,000 to an eye-watering £299,000 - there was a very brief moment of visualisation - pulling up on the drive in one of those - quickly dampened by the reality that there isn't a chance I'd spend that kind of money without the tax breaks currently associated with a EV (and the grounding thought that Annie would rightly kill me if I did).

And no, that does not mean a Taycan is on the way any time soon (although it would be unwise of me to rule out that possibility 😉).

I'd like to reassure the reader that, as I mentioned in a post earlier this week, I have sufficient checks and balances around me to avoid any recurrence of the man in black and his idiosyncrasies, many of which were described in my infamous interview with Payman and Prav for their wonderful "Dental Leaders" podcast.

But, for now, allow me the pleasure of popping my suit back on this morning, as I head out to introduce the outstanding Laura Horton for her final TCO Masterclass this morning, to the Leeds contingent at The Extreme Business 100.

Harking back to an earlier post - it's an onion skin that I've become comfortable with again.