10/27/2025

The Three-shirt Rule

Contextual performance is a CEO's greatest asset

In 2015, I found myself on local TV, but not for my digital marketing expertise. I was playing double bass with a friend in a local acoustic rock band, Barcoustic. For the first half of the gig, I wore a vibrant red shirt (a hand-me-down from the legendary Manu Chao) and switched to a plain blue one for the second.

When I saw the footage, the difference astounded me. Jason, in a blue shirt, was just a guy playing bass. But the red-shirted Jason was a true performer. He was more interesting, more dynamic; he had a completely different personality.

That was the "aha" moment that led to a system I now call the "Three-shirt Rule." I realized that peak performance, both on stage and in the boardroom, comes from being the right person for the right moment. So I built a system using my shirts as the physical artifact I call a "role signal" to consciously activate the right persona. I started with two and eventually expanded to three.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Rolling Stone.