Friday, October 17, 2008

Are You a Professional?

I hope all of you have been sharing your thoughts and ideas of what professionalism means to you and how we exhibit it in our daily work, in your staff meetings. As a guiding principle in Finance and Administrative Services, we define professionalism as “We apply our best skills, knowledge, and experience as we serve the campus community”.

How you look, talk, write, act and work, determines whether you are a professional or an amateur. Too often, society does not emphasize the importance of professionalism, so we view amateur work as normal. A good example is, a person can miss up to 20% of the written driving test questions and still get a driver’s license. Unfortunately, too many organizations accept less than good results.

In our ever changing environment, we cannot afford to accept the mediocre, "just get by" attitude. It is the attitude of amateurs.

So what is the difference between a professional and an amateur?

A professional learns every aspect of the job. An amateur skips the learning process whenever necessary.

A professional carefully discovers what is needed and wanted. An amateur assumes what others need and want.

A professional looks, speaks, and dresses like a professional. An amateur is sloppy in appearance in speech.

A professional jumps into difficult assignments. An amateur tries to get out of difficult work.

A professional is focused and clear-headed. An amateur is confused and distracted.

A professional uses higher emotional tones: Enthusiasm, cheerfulness, interest, contentment. An amateur uses lower emotional tones: Anger, hostility, resentment, fear, victim.

A professional produces more than expected. An amateur produces just enough to get by.

A professional has a promising future. An amateur has an uncertain future.

Make yourself a professional by declaring you ARE a professional!