Professional & Professionalism

Choosing the right IT Professional influences every facet of an organization. These professionals are counted upon for their leadership, dedication and hard work.

What is a Professional?  This is relentless dedication towards a task, job, project, cause or even a loved one or group. A professional wouldn’t necessarily consist of a hairdo, nor the car one drives. 

Although commonly mistaken, professionalism wouldn’t necessarily include politeness nor courteous behavior. It wouldn’t per se include strictness.

Professionalism might include being smartly dressed. It might equally be the unshaven, blue-collar mechanic, who despite being financially broke, refuses to take any form of payment for partial or incomplete work, as such might compromise their personal integrity. These individuals are easy to spot.

The definition of Professionalism breaks down into the following meanings:

• ‘Profession’ originally came from Latin meaning ‘a public declaration’ – in middle English, it was a vow that someone made when they entered a religious order
• ‘-al’ is a suffix used to form nouns, and it chiefly denotes ‘Action’
• ‘-ism’ is a suffix to also form nouns denoting ‘Action’ – but also ‘a system, principal or ideological movement’.

Armed with infallible ethical virtues, professionalism would undoubtedly maintain unswerving and uncompromising personal integrity. Professionalism however represents the best in us all.

True professionals are unreasonable. They seldom compromise with any such direction or influences.

Professional Traits:

Choosing The Right IT Professional

Such an individual sees the world how it should be, versus how others describe or dictate, and seeks to make it so. His infallible degree of ethical conduct is easily recognized by his unmistakable level of responsibility and ownership.  He is capable to influencing his environment making it a better place.  He is truthful and can be readily counted upon to complete tasks and duties (versus leaving these incomplete).

Real professionalism could never be a prestidigitation nor a sham. It is unswerving ownership and responsibility. Professionalism is a high-level, almost spiritual, trait.  Such an individual dedicates himself to improving those within his vicinity.

True Professionalism freely admits to mistakes and thus seeks to correct these.  He does not hide from consequences.

As an inherent trait, this type is capable of rapidly determines the best course of action based on a rapid analysis of the greatest good for those involved and/or the present conditions.  Their motives are never directed solely for personal gain, but encompasses the good of all. Witnessing their movies makes it super easy in Choosing The Right IT Professional

Money and status, interestingly enough, has little to do with professionalism.

Unfortunately, we all have met someone who maintains mere appearances of superiority.  However from a careful inspection, he or she engages in either questionable or sordid activities for personal benefit or gain.

Price tags or statuses could never be associated with true professionalism.

Professionalism and dedication might be confused as analogous traits

Dedication might be defined as a continuous and courageous address on a particular course or path.  As witnessed throughout history, such actions can be directed toward destructive goal. Case in point: Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, Psychiatry – these groups are adamantly bent on destructive purposes and harming other. Many other noted historical cases can be found to have been less than virtuous.

Certainly on a less destructive path, individuals in Government and Corporate America have had involvement in practices resulting in mass layoffs, where a few, at the top, benefit from such questionable ethical business practices.

On a far smaller scale, as a 20 year consultant, I’ve witnessed dozens of wasteful (expensive) projects go to complete pot for lack of diligence, followed by political or bureaucratic subterfuge and CYA. Yet we all have witnessed such waste! Such is not the acts of a professional..

Professionals seek to improve those and conditions around them. They do not stand around idly where matters need to be set right. They push standards to higher levels.  Professionals are most always busy, very productive and solution oriented.

Those exhibiting professionalism are extremely valuable to have in one’s life. They enhance the very core of survival for our families, our groups and certainly mankind.

Those who do not can be poisonous to our very existence.

Removal of such vampire and poisonous personalities, an individual, group or business will immediate experience a resurgence of life in the immediate vicinity.