Basics of Professionalism-II

Dear Readers,

You may check out the continuation of last posting – Basics of Professionalism.

Be Prompt:

How prompt are we when it comes to calling someone, responding to missed calls, sending e-mails / replying to emails, sending/replying to messages etc., in a timely manner or as committed.

It sounds very easy and simple.  Yet it needs commitment and commitment to commitment.

Think of situations wherein;

# You call someone more than few times and your call is not attended to or returned.

# You don’t get a prompt reply and you have to follow up with someone for each and every thing.

# You send an important mail but it’s not replied and sometimes not even acknowledged.

# Someone has committed to come back to you on something important but it never happened and sometimes, even after follow-ups..

When we are not prompt, the message conveyed is we are not professional; we do not care and take the other person for granted.  And this is going to spell disaster at Workplace or in any relationship. We’ll never get a second opportunity.

We come across people who are not prompt enough and some times, we are also not prompt. A honest apology will serve as a band-aid when we forget once in a while but not being prompt repeatedly is a sure recipe for professional suicide.

The bottom line is, if you are not prompt, you are not a professional at all.

Humility:

Being humble and keeping the feet on the ground in spite of being successful is very important. Let success not go to the head.  Nobody would like someone with inflated ego. 

Being humble is an important trait of a true professional.

Be Punctual:

Think of scenarios wherein

# You had an appointment to meet your Dr at 6.00 pm and he comes at 7.30 pm and he does not have regrets..

# You’ve been in time for a seminar but the speaker comes late by one hour.

# You’ve been in time for a discussion or interview but the interviewer meets you after 1-2 hours and without a word of apology.

I am sure we would not like these professionals however good they are in their chosen field.  A true professional will respect his time and others as well.

Be Considerate:

Let me describe one particular situation that I personally came across few years ago.  When I saw a car with “half locked door”, I tried to chase that car in the hectic traffic of Chennai, caught her in the signal and told her that the door is not closed properly.  She closed the door and driven away without even seeing my face.

May be she was in a hurry etc., What I expected was a simple and genuine “Thank You” and it would have made a big difference.

Do we appreciate people for what they do..? A small appreciation given in Time will go a long way in motivating people.

Do we know how to say thank you...?

Do we know how to say sorry..? Do we say sorry at all when we are at fault or when we hurt others?

This calls for genuine and considerate approach from one’s core.  These are not “techniques” and should never be used as techniques.  Techniques may seem to work in the short-term but people will see us through in the long-term.

One has to be genuine in expressing this.  It conveys that we care and respect the other person.

Our life is fast. Mechanical.  Hectic. And the list may go on and on.

But we still need to be considerate…

It can do wonders in inter-personal relationships, on both professional and personal fronts.

Final Remarks:

We are sum of various values, habits and attitudes that we demonstrate in our day-to-day life.  People perceive us based on what we exhibit, either explicitly or in a subtle way.  We build our own personal brand, Good, Bad or Ugly, with or without our knowledge by our day-to-day small actions. 

Let us watch out for the Basics..  and take care of the Basics FIRST…

diD yOU enJOY ReADinG ThIS ArTIcLE? 

                                  If yES, 

yOU maY sHAre it wiTH Your FriENds tOO.

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