I have spent this past month having many conversations with my younger daughter, who has just appeared for her 12th grade. We talked about what her interests were and what college she wanted to go to. Doing this, I had to rethink what it meant to be professionally qualified. What are the things that are essential to equip a person who is just starting out in a world where he/she is choosing something of interest and something that she has an aptitude for? It's been an interesting journey to have these conversations with her over this whole area.
Even beyond that, part of what we do at Corporate Capsules is to also go into corporate offices and give different talks to larger groups of people. We've really enjoyed doing that with companies both in Bangalore and Delhi. But what is interesting is the doors that have been opened for us to enter professional colleges, business schools, talk to students who are beginning their careers, see in them dreams and aspirations and the desire to excel in some of them and the desire to just get by in others.
The main criteria for professionals include the following:
1. Expert and specialized knowledge in field which one is practicing professionally.
2. Excellent manual/practical and literary skills in relation to profession.
3. High quality work in (examples): creations, products, services, presentations, consultancy, etc.
4. A high standard of professional ethics, behavior and work activities while carrying out one's profession.
5. Reasonable work morale and motivation.
6. Appropriate treatment of relationships with colleagues.
7. A professional is an expert who is a master in a specific field.
We have so many people who have been talked about as professionals; well-qualified people who have done extremely well in their fields of expertise, and yet at some point, have really set a bad example with some 'get-rich-quick' schemes, or different hedge fund managers who have finally ended up robbing clients of millions, executives who siphon funds, and the list goes on. People who we've thought are hard-nosed professionals, well-qualified people, have really lowered the bar of what it means to be a professional.
I was reading this book by Subroto Bagchi, "The Professional" Defining the New Standard of Excellence at Work." I really liked what I read and would highly recommend it. He delineates between a professionally qualified person and a professional. He says, "Every profession has some explicit and some implicit code of conduct. Understanding that, serves as the distinction between a professionally qualified person and a professional." Hitherto, those two have been blurred. You would think that a professional is one who is a professionally qualified person or that a professionally qualified person is a professional. But he says that a true professional, from his experience, have these 3 capabilities.
1. The ability to work unsupervised.
2. The ability to certify the completion of a job or task.
3. The ability to behave with integrity at all times.
When you look at these 3, you basically see that it's talking about 3 areas.
· To be disciplined
· To be able to complete the job that one is given
· To be able to have integrity, to have people trust your word.
While we may think that these 3 things would automatically come with being a professional, if we care to take a little time and think about it, we realize that sometimes these 3 can be challenges in the things that we do.
1. To be able to work unsupervised, to have a good discipline, to work without supervision, to be able to know that without anybody looking, the job that I'm doing is the way that I'm supposed to do it! That is a hallmark. That is a trait that most people will look for rather than having to look over one's shoulder to see whether somebody is doing their job. To be able to know that if you give this job to someone, it will get done.
2. To complete the job. To know when the job is complete. Sometimes things are specified and we know exactly when a particular job is done. But when you look at other areas like: when did Michelangelo know when the Sistine Chapel was done? Did he know when the last dot of paint was completing the Sistine Chapel? Or when does a sculptor know that it was the last piece of stone that he needs to chip away and his sculpture is now perfect? Or when did Beethoven know that the last note of the Ninth (Pastoral) Symphony was done? How do we know when a job is complete?
3. Finally, is there integrity in what we do? Can people trust us and say, "If so-and-so says a job is going to be done, it will be done"? Or "If he/she gives their word, we can take it." I believe that is what is so important for us as professionals.
In his book, Bagchi goes on to talk about a man, an unheralded man, in Bangalore. He had come in as a little child with his mother who died at the hospital. One day the police told him that there was a person who had died at the hospital and there was no one claiming the body and he had to take the body and bury it. So he started doing that. Today he is being honored by the Chief Minister because he is at that hospital, doing this job. Every time he gets a call, and it can come at any time, he's there; he does the job. Nobody supervises him but he does it completely.
I like the way Bagchi brings out this whole idea of being professional. Are you the kind of person who can work unsupervised, who knows when a job is completed and who can work with integrity?
He goes on to give a couple of examples. He says, "A young surgeon may not yet be proficient with the scalpel, but she must clearly understand what the basic tenets of medical practice are and what may constitute malpractice. A software engineer working on a client's project that requires complete confidentiality cannot discuss his work with people not pre-approved by the client. A journalist cannot curry favor with a source to get a scoop or use professional standing to seek special accommodations from the system. A chief executive of a company cannot appoint his spouse as a contractor in his own office and do business with her. Etc."
"But the key is," as he says, "without integrity, any professionally qualified individual is actually a danger to society." You and I can have all the qualifications to pronounce us a wonderfully professionally qualified. Yet, are we professionals?
As Bagchi would say at the end (he's the COO for Mindtree Ltd), "Is what I am going to do now, the truly professional choice?" professionals need to answer that question.
My prayer for each of us this morning is that we will be able to answer that question and answer it professionally. Can I pray with you? Almighty God, on everyone on this call, give us the wisdom to know how to behave in a professional manner so that we are able to be professionals who are good role models to younger people coming up. Help us to act with integrity. Help us to act whether we are supervised or not in excellent ways. Help us to know exactly when a job is completed. We ask for Your wisdom, Almighty God, to lead us through the day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
- Subroto Bagchi, "The Professional: Defining the New Standard of Excellence at Work." Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd.
- "Professional," definition, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional
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