Remember that scene in The Devil Wears Prada when Miranda Priestly silences Andy Sachs with a perfectly delivered monologue about a cerulean blue sweater? Andy had dismissed it as trivial—just another fashion detail. But Miranda’s lesson wasn’t about the sweater. It was about power: When you think you’re outside the system, you’re actually reinforcing it. You can’t opt out of the fashion system. You can only choose whether you’re aware of it.

In an era obsessed with authenticity, what we wear is the first language we speak. Yet most leaders remain unconscious of this language’s strategic power. They treat their........

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