#178: What Are the Traits of a True Professional?

Introduction

Today, on the "People Skills" newsletter, we're featuring 12 videos that will show you how to be a "professional" professional.

If you look up the word, "professional" on Google, the main definition refers to your status as a paid worker, for example, you are a "professional sports person" as opposed to an amateur one.

However, there is another definition of "professional" and that is about the way you think about your job and how you do it.

In this case, everyone can be a "professional" whether you are at the top of the organisation, or bottom. And this definition is defined by your own personal standards, values, commitment, and responsibility.

In the modern world, it sometimes appears that we have higher expectations from others than we have of ourselves.

But, when you are a true professional, the quality of "professional" will stand out and define you like no other.

So, today on the "People Skills" newsletter, we're rounding up 12 videos that will remind you how to become a true professional...

01. "How to Develop Personal Accountability" from MindTools

Do you take responsibility for your and your team’s actions? Or do you become defensive and “pass the buck”?

Being accountable isn’t always easy, but it is important and worthwhile. It builds trust within teams, and can earn you respect. Use these six steps to become more personally accountable...

02. "There Are No "They"" from Conor Neill

What's the most important lesson you have learnt in life?

03. "Committing to Be a Professional Project Manager" from Mike Clayton

Professionalism is easy to define. It's a set of behaviours that include being consistent, ethical, thorough, expert, and diligent. However, the point at which you become a professional is when you make a choice: to have the mindset of a professional...

04. "What You Need to Write a Professional Mission Statement" from Jennifer Brick

In this video, Jennifer shares professional mission statement examples, helps you discover your professional values and write your career vision statement in 10 minutes or less...

05. "Jeff Bezos of Amazon on High Standards" from Conor Neill

This is another video inspired by Jeff Bezos' letter to shareholders where he talks about the challenge of setting and maintaining high standards for your work and for the work of the teams around you...

06. "Raise Your Standards" from Positive Revolution

We often delude ourselves into thinking that we are doing our best. We have so much untapped potential. We can squeeze more and demand more from ourselves. Greatest achievers raise their standards and work hard to meet their expectations.

07. "Be a Professional" by Shep Hyken

Being a professional is not about whether you are paid or not — it’s about your behaviour. It’s about how you act toward and treat others. It’s about the empathy and compassion you have around others’ needs. It’s about how you respect those people. Professionals at every level and in any profession behave and act appropriately.

08. "6 Traits of a True Professional" by MindTools

Professionalism encompasses a number of different characteristics, from developing accountability and having integrity, to keeping your industry knowledge up to date and, of course, looking the part.

In this video and in the accompanying article, we explore the six key traits that true professionals have and what you can do to develop them.

09. "Are You Taking 100% Responsibility?" by The Conscious Leadership Group

In this animation, see how an operation room team stopped blame and took responsibility for their results.

10. "The Entitlement Creed" from Eric Chester

The most common word used by today's employers to describe the new emerging workforce is 'entitled'. So leadership expert, Eric Chester, decided to tip that term on its ear and ask employers what they feel entitled to.

11. "Attribution Theory" from Practical Psychology

If there is one thing that I’ve learned from studying psychology, it’s that people are fascinated by it. All of us want to know a little bit more about why people do the things they do. We want to be able to explain the behaviours of our friends, family, partners, and colleagues...

12. "3 Ways to Check Your Own Accountability" from Galen Emanuele

High accountability behaviour versus low accountability behaviour, what it means personally and professionally, and three questions to check yourself in how you’re showing up.

What Next?

If you have worked through each video in this newsletter, you will now have a great set of materials to understand what it means to be a professional, with the mindset of a professional, and the actions of a professional.

And, with this as your base, you can now take things further.

With over 22,000 learning resources on our 6 websites, with 2 sites offering free downloads, you can now take charge of your own learning and create your own learning pathways to success.

Simply commit yourself to a daily snippet of learning and then apply it, practise it, reflect upon it, and review it, and in no time at all, you will find that your learning has become part of who you are.

Well done and good luck!