Professionalism

by Scott Airitam
President, Scott Airitam's Leadership Systems, LLC

Whenever I bring up the word "professionalism" to people, many take it differently than I intend. A lot of people associate it with "image." I guess it is true that if a person is unprofessional, a certain image will be connected to that person. Others associate it with clothes--with dress. Again, how we dress can come across as unprofessional, but that's not what I'm talking about either.

I suppose the peripheral issues of image and dress are to be expected, so it generally doesn't bother me or even require me to correct someone. But, I have a blog, so it's a good chance for me to clear this one up. With all of the focus, over the years, on "Dressing for Success," or "Dress Like the Person You Want to Be, Not the Person You Are" it's no wonder we get these things confused. And what is this about dress as the person you want to be? If I did that, I'd constantly be dressed in a swimsuit, with a straw hat and a koozy as accessories.

No, what I'm talking about with the word professionalism is different. Professionalism, to me, includes only behaviors that support the mission--the ultimate goal. That's it. Plain and simple. There is no need to make it all convoluted, but people do, and will. Think of it this way, "unprofessional" is the opposite. Is gossip professional or unprofessional? That's easy, it's unprofessional. It sabotages the mission instead of furthering progress toward it. It is divisive and it is petty and small. Is harassment or retailiation of any kind professional? Again, easy. It is not. Harassment places the focus squarely on the harassing behaviors and the environment created in its wake. It does not put the focus on the mission. Is how you dress professional? This one isn't as cut and dried. Dress can be so unprofessional that it takes attention away from the mission and puts it onto itself. That's one extreme. Where there is one extreme, one must only look far enough in the right direction to find the other. With that being said, then, dress can impress and create credibility. If impressing specific people and creating credibility furthers the mission, then, yes, it is professionalism at it's best! However, I'd squarely put most clothing in the category of irrelevant as far as professinalism goes. (Some of you are feeling the impulse to talk about how badly I dress right now, right?) That is to say, that even though someone selected the blue tie or the beige skirt this morning, if they'd decided to go with the red tie or the black skirt, it wouldn't have made a difference as to whether their focus was directed toward their mission or not.

I guess my rant for today is that professionalism is much more about the work, the goals, and the mission than it is about much more arbitrary and subjective measurements. Professionalism, thus, becomes the overlay for all work-related concepts such as Leadership, customer service, collaboration, sales, or communication.

Give this some thought next time you are wondering if someone is being professional or not.