How do you view yourself?
Do you consider yourself a professional?
Did you know that viewing yourself as a professional turns out to be a big deal?
How you view yourself has transformation power, and viewing yourself as a professional is part of that transformational power. Showing up as a professional is the type of aspirational goal that inspires passion, energy and enthusiasm. And, yes, this is personal, very personal!
A professional mindset goes beyond the specific requirements and tasks of a job, physical strength, smarts, and social status. It is foundational and principle centered.
Disciplined concentration on being the best at whatever our responsibility happens to be will naturally include the virtues of integrity, honesty, and hard work.
In his book, The Power of Professionalism: The Seven Mindsets that Drive Performance and Build Trust, Bill Wiersma talks about seven mindsets of highly successful and trusted professionals in a variety of fields that set them apart from others. They are:
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- Professionals favor getting results.
- Professionals realize and act like they’re part of something bigger than themselves.
- Professionals know things get better when they get better.
- Professionals have personal standards that are often higher than their company ones.
- Professionals know that personal integrity is all they have.
- Professionals aspire to be masters of their emotions, not enslaved by them.
- Professionals aspire to reveal value in others.
He goes on to say that professional ideals, for both individuals and organizations, have an inseparable connection to success. Being professional means better relationships and better results. Why? Because developing a culture centered on professional ideals, builds trust.
Professionals are an increasingly rare breed, often taking the proverbial road less traveled. They are not only smart; they are also wise. Their ability to exercise good judgments stands above the rest. They willingly invest discretionary effort—more than what the proverbial service handbook requires.[10] They keep their wits under tough conditions and focus on winning contests in the marketplace, not popularity contests. They refuse to respond in kind when they’re wronged. Their work is not necessarily about what they do, but rather how they do it. It takes discipline, energy, and gumption not to succumb to the easy way out. Regardless of what a professional’s responsibilities entail, it’s never about him or her. Simply put, they are the first player you would pick for your team. [Wiersma, Bill. The Power of Professionalism: The Seven Mind-Sets that Drive Performance and Build Trust (p. 10). Ravel. Kindle Edition.]
So yes, we should all aspire to be professionals!
This is our meaning of quality partnering matters.
Many companies have core values. We spent the better part of a year clarifying ours: commitment, hard work, individual responsibility, respect, and professionalism.
Out of all the virtues and values one can live up to, these five speak to all we’ve learned to get to where we are today. They also speak to where we want to go, and how we want to get there.
We don’t just put them up on a wall. We use them to guide our daily conversations, behavior, and actions while on the job for Populist. Our management team uses them to evaluate current and potential employees – hire, fire, train, reward, promote, and review. And, they are used to evaluate our current policies and procedures and guide the development of new ones. Our core values define and measure our accountability to our employees and customers. They set the guidelines for our commitment to act and react in certain ways. They are the yardstick, so to speak, our company chooses to be measured by.
Professionalism encompasses the other four. You can’t be a professional without commitment, hard work, individual responsibility, and respect.
The specifics of what we do in the cleaning business aren’t glamorous. Cleaning up after others is often the job that’s made fun of – you all know the stereotypes of being the janitor. Maybe that why we work extra hard on out employer/employee and customer relationships.
Because, in actuality, we’re in the people business first, and we believe that quality partnering matters. If you’re looking for a quality partner in your cleaning service, give us a call at 734 482-1800.
We’ll take care of you.
