What is Professionalism? Are You a Professional?


By Sanjeev Himachali


Let me start this write-up with a question, what is Professionalism? Are you a Professional? Different people must be having different views on this subject and the chances are that all of them are logically correct. Before that let start with Profession…what are you doing? Are you in a profession? Well, if you are drawing Monetary Benefits for what you are doing, then you are in a profession. So, that way, sports, acting, dancing, selling, politics…everything is a profession. But that doesn’t qualify you as a “Professional”. All those who are in any profession are “not professional”. So, then, who is a professional?

In response to my write-up “Your Hello Tunes and Your Interview Calls” (You can read the complete article at http://sanjeevhimachali.blogspot.com/), someone mentioned, “Life is not always divided in professional and personal halves in equal percentage. It is always good to break the monotony of the work. Indians that would include me, seem to copy the British since the time they attained freedom.” Do you think that being a professional is a “Punishment” or is a “Restriction”? Being professional is neither of them. Being professional doesn’t not stop you from “enjoying your work” or “enjoying your life”. Hence, being professional is a “Declaration” to the outsiders.

Being professional is a declaration, wherein you mention, how you like to get treated by others? Its about attitude, behavior, self-presentation; self-respect and dignity. It means not just knowing how to do your job, but demonstrating a willingness to learn, cooperating and getting along with others, showing respect, and living up to your commitments. It also means avoiding many kinds of behaviors that cause trouble in the workplace. It doesn’t matter, if you work as a clerk or a CEO of the company but if you behave the way people expect a professional to behave, you'll be accepted and treated like one.

A person, be in any profession must demonstrate the following behaviors or habit to be called as a “professional”. “Knowledge and skills of their profession; pride in a profession; accountability for his/her work; Commitment to self-improvement of skills and knowledge; Conscience and trustworthiness; enjoying your work; being committed to your work and they must be a good team-players.”

Let me give you a small test, if you think that you are a “professional” ask the following questions to yourself:

Do you live up to your commitments?

How do you behave with others; your sub-ordinates, peers; seniors; friends; internal or external customers?

Do your managers see you in the right light?

What's your integrity level?

Do you truly have all the skills required to be successful at your job?

Does people, your co-workers make comments on the way you carry yourself?

Does you and your place, work place or house, is properly organized?

True answers to all above mentioned questions would let you know, if you are a “professional” or not.

As I said in my previous write-up, I am not here to tell people as how they should behave and what behaviors they should avoid. We are in 21st Century, competing with best of the best in global market. There are certain set standards and expected behaviors that we are expected to follow. There are certain expectations of each profession. Even if you are not in a profession or an unemployed or retired person, just as a Human Being you are expected to behave in a certain manner.

Professionalism is not a punishment, it is not an attempt to restrict your freedom but it is a discipline.

Have a great day and fantastic week ahead. Looking forward to your feedback and comments.

With love and care,

Sanjeev Himachali
(Chandigarh – India)
(Mobile: +91-9876328841)
(Blog: http://sanjeevhimachali.blogspot.com)
(E-mail: ss_himachali@yahoo.com; sanjeev.himachali@gmail.com)


More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Management Information:

Related Articles

Align The Enterprise & Make Beautiful Music Together
Q: Why is a great business like a great marching band?A: The players in both organizations are in alignment.Alignment? Yes, Alignment.
Project Management, A Forgotten Perspective
Effective project managers know how to get the job done, and get it done right. Success comes not only from wise selection of the team members and utilization of the best project management software tools; effective managers know how to lead, and how to encourage project team members to do their best.
Business Relationship Germs
In management seminars I often compare debt to an infection. A reasonable amount of debt will not kill a business, but too much debt will.
Sarbanes Oxley 404 Compliance - How Nov. 15, 2004 Deadline Affects You
Fast Relief for Sarbanes Oxley Section 404 ComplianceSection 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires management to confirm the effectiveness of their IT and financial controls in an "internal control report", which is contained within the annual report (10-K) issued to the public. But what exactly is an internal control report, and why is it important to you?The Section 404 Internal Control ReportFirst, the internal control report must affirm management's responsibility for controls and procedure, and second, it must contain an assessment of the effectiveness of the internal controls and procedures for financial reporting.
Employee Turnover: Seven Reasons Why People Quit Their Jobs
There are many reasons why good employees quit and go to another company, perhaps even your competitor. Most of the reasons start with management and most are preventable.
Dont Wait for Tax Time to Look at the Bottom Line
A curious thing happens to entrepreneurs in the spring of every year. They wake up one day and realize they had better figure out how much money they made last year so they can pay their taxes.
Radical Creativity from Incremental Creativity - large movements from small changes
Positive radical movement is the holy grail of nearly every decision maker. Every CEO wants to radically shift his profit and loss statement into the black, every inventor yearns to find the next killer gadget and every screenwriter wants to make the next significant leap in film.
Power of Pinpointing Accountability
I have always said that if I were to write a book on effective management principles, the first chapter in that book would be about the importance of pinpointing responsibility among an owner's or a general manager's reporting units. After all, one of the most popular definitions of management is getting work done through others.
Communication in Business
Effective communication in business is not about creating the perfect PowerPoint presentation. It's not about writing the perfectly-pitched report.
Innovation Management and Brainstorming Management - why people hate to brainstorm!
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation.
Comparing Ancient Programs from the East to Modern Programs like Stephen Covey.
Comparing Corporate and Personal goal attainment programs that have developed over thousands of years with those of modern day legends such as Covey - "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"In the 1990s Stephen Covey's name became famous through the publication of the "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". As many know the "7 habits" are not a group of new concepts but age-old approaches to success represented in a way that can be clearly applied to modern day personal and corporate development.
Phone Sex is Bad for Business
On August 3rd/2005, Reuters reported that a German man had colluded with a phone sex operator to defraud his employer's company out of approximately 16,000 Euro or almost 20,000 US dollars, by making 160 phone calls over a year and a half from work. He apparently split the profits 50/50 with the phone sex operator.
Problem-Solving Success Tip: Dont Leave Your Key Stakeholders Guessing
Communicate! Don't leave you key stakeholders guessing.We are generally not very good about keeping others informed about the progress we're making, especially if there isn't much.
Innovation Management: The Quality and Quantity of the Idea Pool
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation.
Rapid Culture Change is Possible
Purpose: Show how immersion leadership training makes strategic initiative success possible.Adults learn through experience.
Keeping and Motivating the Best Employees
Keeping and Motivating the Best EmployeesIn "You Win With People" we talked about the need to hire the very best people to build your team. Now that you've done that the question becomes, how do you keep them, and how do you keep them motivated.
The Seven Essentials of Business Communication
There are seven essential elements to successful business communication:StructureClarityConsistencyMediumRelevancyPrimacy/RecencyPsychological Rule of 7 - If you are going to communicate effectively in business it is essential that you have a solid grasp of these seven elements.So let's look at each in turn.
Managing Change in the Workplace
Change is exhilarating. Change is terrifying.
Year 2010: Permanent Employees No Longer Required
Jack Welch joined a conference that was held in Duke Fuquay Business School where he was invited to promote his new book called "Winning". He told audience about how culture is important in a company.
Efficiency Around The Office
Nearly every office, be it commercial or home-based, may have areas of inefficiency that can be improved upon. We are not talking sales figures or profit margins or budgets, but inefficient waste and resource management.