Tenets of professionalism

Over the last 12 years, I have worked with hundreds of people. Here are some of the top traits I have seen in people that are true professionals.

Tenets of professionalism

  1. Professionals take ownership of their work. Whether they are serving their notice period in an organisation or just starting out they take complete ownership of their work.
  2. Professionals have a clear definition of ‘Done’. Even in multi-team tasks, they don’t sit back once their part is done. They ensure that teams down the line don’t drop the ball
  3. Professionals believe in how you do anything is how you do everything. Not everything you do at work will be seen by others. However, a true professional does everything with the same diligence no matter how big or small the task.
  4. Professionals have a razor-sharp focus on attention to detail. Lack of time, bandwidth etc are never reasons for a professional to do shoddy work. They check and recheck everything they work on for the smallest of errors. As a result their work never requires someone else to do a QC before release.
  5. Professionals don’t leave a mess behind. Like a Masterchef who doesn’t leave behind a dirty kitchen or a developer who writes readable, well-commented code, a true professional always delivers tip-top work without leaving a mess behind.
  6. Professionals are punctual. They set reasonable deadlines and always stick to them. They don’t forget appointments or give last-minute excuses.
  7. Professionals are consistent. Professionalism is not an option. It is not a choice where you can pick the dates or tasks to be a professional at.
  8. Professionals don’t whine and crib. They are solution seekers. They solve problems and don’t complain about what is wrong with the rest of the world.
  9. Professionals take initiative. They don’t wait for others to roll out the red carpet. Above all, they fix issues they come across even if it is outside their circle of concern.
  10. Professionals love what they do and Inspire others with their work.
  11. Professionals are technically sound and know the nuts and bolts of their discipline. They are always working on their craft and becoming better each day.
  12. Professionals are transparent in their dealings. They never hide information, mislead or use information asymmetry as a source of power.
  13. Professionals are respectful and humble irrespective of whether they are dealing with people above or below them in the reporting structure.

If you are interested in similar articles, here is one I wrote a while back on ‘Learning from my life’