Career Perspective (22 ) — This Is Professionalism
Lately, I heard the word professionalism, and I am deeply fond of it. The jargon refers to your integrity scale in the business world.
Then what is professionalism? Imagine, there are a few five-inch puddles caused by a rainy day. Suddenly the people on the street are fanning out to the sides of the road because there is a taxi driving through. However, the taxi driver slows down and breaks, so the taxi passes by slowly without splashing the water. This is professionalism. That is what you would consider an integrity scale among people.
After that, the taxi stops in front of the fork in the road with a STOP sign. The driver looks both ways before turning left. This is professionalism too. You follow the principle of the game to stay away from the bottom line. To summarize, professionalism is knowing your position and controlling your mental ability.
A similar situation happened in the workplace when we collaborate with coworkers or suppliers. The attitude reflects your integrity and improves your professionalism scale. You can earn respect unconsciously when you continue demonstrating your integrity. Nevertheless, some behavior might affect your integrity, such as being late, losing credibility, or taking things for granted. So you need to keep practicing “professionalism” until it becomes a habit naturally.
I work as a supplier manager in the HQ of the company. In this position, I encounter people from different sections asking for assistance regularly. Therefore, interruption is the proper word to describe the condition of my shift. In order to bear with it, my way is to ensure your request and make an appointment before putting my tasks into progress. Therefore, I can prepare the correct material and have enough time to assist you. Meanwhile, the quality of my professionalism can keep a 5-star scale along the way.
We all have our schedules, goals, or even confusion about the job tasks we encounter now. We should be very grateful if people kindly provide their assistance when we ask for it. But you don’t need to have frustration if people are too busy to provide their help. It is not their obligation to assist if it is not a rule of the company. So, I figured out that perceiving the truth is don’t take anything for granted and it’s also vital to improve professionalism. In short, professionalism is always the key to winning the game.
