Separating Professionalism from Formalism
Formalism and Professionalism are not the same. Thought I’d start out bold, so there we go! In the past I might have agreed with you, but nowadays I wholeheartedly disagree. I think lumping them together into the same package is not only wrong, but also disparaging — especially to those you palm off because “I’m not your mate from the pub” (which, may I add, is ironic because now you’re the colloquial one).
disclaimer: There is an underlying message to this post. I’m not just unhappy about a single incident, this one just illustrates it rather well. I promise!
“What sparked this post?” I hear you ask. Well, I started a conversation with a wonderful person on LinkedIn — Lovely fellow, works in Talent Acquisition. We had a relatively short-lived conversation which went along these lines (for the purpose of anonymity, we’ll call him Bob):
Me: “Hey, how’s it going?”
So far, so good!
Bob: “How can I help Tom?”
A nice, friendly reply — wonderful! I can see this going well.
Me: “Do you guys get involved with tech events much?”
Friendly, straight to the point, masterfully punctuated. What more could a person want?
Bob: “Sorry Tom…”
Oh no! What’s happened? Surely nothing could have gone wrong between the last message and now?
Bob: “…I’m not your mate down the pub. A bit of professional decorum and approach goes a long way.”
Oh Bob… did you not read the first line of my future blog post? Professionalism and Formalism aren’t the same!
Now, the reason I’m making this point isn’t to get back at Bob — far from it! The problem I have is twofold: If you see professionalism and formalism as one and the same, everyone ends up the same — robotic and devoid of personality. This lack of personality results in a boring culture and moreover, a curtailment of creativity. How do you convey your passion and drive when you are confined to this box of so called “professionalism”?
Don’t get me wrong — I agree that there are times for, as Bob called it, “professional decorum”: Meeting the Queen maybe? But the important thing that the separation of formalism and professionalism brings is the ability for people to feel more relaxed in an environment. And when you’re relaxed, you perform better because you can be yourself. You feel welcome and useful and wanted. Not just a little cog in a huge machine, but someone with a voice — somebody who can make a difference.
What do I want you to take away from this? It’s simple really — Live every day as yourself. Don’t go around curtailing your passion and drive, holding back that smile or being stuffy and cold to people because you feel that you have to in order to be “professional”. Professionalism is doing the right things and making the right decisions (to an extent). It’s not mutually exclusive with friendly or kind or happy — it’s perfectly viable to be both. So be yourself, do what makes you happy, and be warm, bubbly, passionate and driven. And if you’re like Bob, lighten up a little! Smile! Laugh! It goes a long long way. Most of all, just remember that just because you want to be professional, you certainly don’t have to be formal; At least not all the time!
