Be a professional, yet retain your individuality

“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”

---- Mahatma Gandhi

The general advice given to people that in order to be successful in their career and work, they have to display professionalism of a high standard. Taking a cue from this, people either make themselves a mechanical component of a machine or do away with some of their own individualities so that they can come up to the paradigm that corporate culture or professional ambit call for. This is a misleading notion and far from reality.

If you have to be a professional, you need not lose out on your individuality; you cannot afford to forget who you actually are. Most organisations desire that the persona and character of their staff should glisten. This is an unwritten and unspoken qualitative requirement that exists even prior to the recruitment process. It should be remembered that no employer will ever have on rolls people who lack self-inspiration to chase their own good.

How can you assure yourself that you will be professional and yet be able to maintain your individuality and personal distinctiveness? How can you be certain that you will not deviate from your personal estimation of matters? Will you be sure that you do not fail to protect your own welfare? Here is how you can do that:

·   Never shy away from promoting & revealing your well-being:  All organisations want their employees to be pleasing personalities who are out to live life king-size. You should make your preferences about your inclinations and free-time activities known to your colleagues and seniors alike. It could well be philately, sports, fine arts or any other sideline activities. You should maintain a professional identity specific to you and never be reluctant to communicate information and explanations about issues that are dear to your heart. If you do not shrink from propriety in maintaining your professionalism, the management of the company that you are serving in will feel delighted to see you pursue your leisure activities. Needless to state, you will, in the process convey varied perceptions to the environment; this by itself is what organizations seek for achieving modernization and hits – in other words success.     

·   Don’t keep your opinion to yourself, but reveal it alertly:  What is that makes your individuality? It is your viewpoint and principles that make you what you are. Therefore, why shouldn’t you make your standpoints known to others?  It could well be anything that you have experienced or what you feel about – say, your views about societal issues, current affairs or anything else. You can be professional in your approach and dealings without sacrificing your candidness, but you need to be diligently plainspoken and for that you have to have a balanced outlook while talking so that arguments are avoided. If you are working, it does not imply that you have to be compulsorily reticent and uncommunicative.      

·   Show concern & regard towards individualities of everybody:  Like you, everybody else at your place of work – your seniors, colleagues and subordinates alike – also have a right to their own views and a personal life to lead. They too are not mechanical components and have some significance of their own. Getting to know about them and holding their opinions in esteem can perhaps lead you to discover and share familiar aims. Workplace need not be one that places restrictions on anybody; on the contrary, it should be a place where people with divergent dispositions and interests work in harmony towards common goals.

The primary attribute of professionalism is being able to retain the constituents that make you what you are. And it definitely does not mean making you cast yourself in a die or being a square peg in a round hole. You have to be smart and sharp so that you can influence your exclusive and inimitable distinctiveness to become an appreciated employee. Remember that the spirited and daring act is still to think for yourself – and that too aloud. Some wise man was truly wise when he said that the privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.

So why should you part with your individuality and become that of another? Follow your own star!