Have you ever wondered whether or not you were professional “enough?” Maybe it’s a job interview or work event you’re preparing for and you wonder if you are professional enough to be well-received.
But what does it mean to be professional?
I want to talk today about the meaning of “professional” and how we might view it differently.
For some reason, we have a cultural belief that people go to work and transform into something called “professional.” That there is professional and unprofessional behavior. That we do the professional behavior at work and the unprofessional behavior….somewhere else.
But this is sort of a fuzzy idea.
We seem to presume that professionalism is dictated by form and not substance. We value ideas like appearance and timeliness. I would guess that if you asked most people, those two things would be highly identified as traits that make someone professional.
We then assume, sometimes, that as long as people have these traits, then the rest of professionalism follows. That if one is timely and in nice clothing then you have left your non-professional, human, animalistic urges at the door and now inhabit the body of “professional.” Half-human, half-robot creature that works and behaves, appropriately.
But that’s just not the case. People may act the part. Suppress their more human sides, which then seep out through passive aggressiveness, cliques, or insidious and unnecessary gossip.
Or they may project it outright through behaviors like bullying, discrimination, downright aggressiveness, or directionless intensity.
Our inability to find a definition of professionalism that goes deeper than a vague form and into how we treat each other is probably why workplace discrimination is still alive and well. If things like treating people poorly were seen as unprofessional, this might shift.
We also have a cultural belief that people come to work solely to work. Not the case either. Sometimes, we can use work to avoid reality. Work addiction is probably one of the most acceptable forms of addiction in this culture. The idea of work-life balance is bandied about like a half-deflated beach ball, though whether it is embraced rather than touted is often unclear.
Imagine if work-life balance, that is, resisting being addicted to your work, was seen as “professional.” That would probably shift a lot in our relationship to work.
When we assume that people in their jobs behave professionally we obscure the fact that that’s just not the case. Humans are humans. They don’t leave those human sides at the door when they come to work.
Further, when we have no working definition of professionalism, what becomes “unprofessional” is usually more applied to those who are unpopular for whatever reason. Consider, for example, the belief, perhaps still widely-held, that Black hairstyles are unprofessional.
My theory here isn’t quite just that unprofessional/professional is another way to create inside/outside groups or to discriminate. Though that could be true.
My point is just that until we are really clear on what that is — it means nothing. It’s dangerous to assume that it means something about, for example, morality.
It doesn’t.
So the next time you are doubting whether you are professional enough consider:
- Do you treat people with care, attention, and fairness?
- Do you take time away from work to pursue things that are meaningful to you?
If so, know that, at least in my opinion, you already are professional.
Michele writes on many topics, including career and personal development. For more ideas and inspiration, check out her Patreon page here.
