Traits of a Consummate Professional
▼Including 9 Ultimate Transferable Skills + High-Income Skills▼
Hiring Great People IV | Images Hyperlinked or Zoomable
Francesco Schettino was some HR Manager's idea of “well-qualified”. Except that entrusted
with a ship longer & heavier than the Titanic; lacking qualitative judgment, professionalism and
perpetual acuity, much like staffer Elizabeth Lauten, he brought onboard, unprofessionalism,
plus mediocrity, both poor examples of great, risk-based talent acquisition. Peter Drucker
however nailed it: “The only thing you'll ever have in abundance is incompetence.” And
the hirability, management and professionalism challenge organizations and business
people face in the social media era today is finding talent that brooks no nonsense
regarding inefficiency, ineptitude, inauthenticity, buffoonery, corruption, reckless
criminal antics, gimmicks, leaks, etc. That's why diversity matters — protecting
customers & data. Or try justifying the above numbers or facts in a court of
law, to angry victims, to shareholders or to a board directors. When the
sexual trysts & bad judgment that sent this married 53yr-old Captain
and Costa Concordia victims on that disastrous detour was all over
even Italy's justice system, which sentenced four others looked
incompetent — devoid of True Credibility. True credibility has
mileage. It is rooted in character, a transferable leadership
skill that isn't as clichéd and hard to measure as Social
Media would have you believe. Verifiable, it is linked
to a history or pattern of decisions resulting from
both qualitative & excellent choices. And from
the best global brands to high velocity, even
high-level policy-making government jobs
scandals & bad choices featuring Justine
Sacco, Jofi Joseph or Xiaolang Zhang
below, recruiters MUST remember:
perfect grades, tech skills, who
you know or cultural fit don't
matter, if HR is too naïve to
know political background
risks vs. Insider Threats.
their hallmark. And,
transferable skills,
value-add. Keep
them engaged.
Job seekers,
study those
qualities,
T O O.
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Being tech savvy is useless if one lacks critical reasoning skills and good judgment.
That's why the Jack Teixeira leak was so instructive. Because the painful truth for many, often in denial, is that the U.S. often doesn't hire for skill or character. Rather, in most cases, it hires for privilege.
Some of us come from cultures where our parents would literally disown or punch us where it hurts the most, just for dishonoring the family's name. Yet seeing the suspect and his parents exchange entitled “'love you”(s) during legal proceedings was sickening knowing there are better-qualified, trustworthy minorities who try without success for years to get security clearance jobs.
In other words, another privileged white boy from the University of Edward Snowden who
called himself “OG” and thought he knew better than everybody else. And someday when/IF America ever gets smarter and humbler, people will learn that: 📌 There's security in Diversity.
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Why? Because as with the video above, the reactive rather than proactive mindset (seen here) alone is the problem. So much so that even Zero Trust is rarely enough while systemic dysfunction persists.
From Social Media to desktop, mobile, cloud computing security; business communications, social engineering or digital transformation generally, being a click-averse, security aware candidate with integrity is a value-add that easily translates to millions if not billions in avoided losses.
Start here, or simply follow me on Twitter to master this nebulous but critical domain. Recruiters: Click white dove at the bottom of this article.
Most people fail because they lack it. Consummate professionals keep winning because of it.
The world is a business and a jungle. And how far and high you go, or how resilient you remain will always be determined by the strength of the networks you build throughout life.
What Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, John D. Rockefeller, Warren Buffett and the rest of the greats share is their next-level consistent strategy execution, discipline and winners' mindset. Which incidentally explains China's much publicized economic miracle. One I never properly appreciated until I lived there myself. One I certainly never learned in college. Which I now call: Strategic Intensity.
The ability to read a room, read people, influence and quickly build not just because you're a brilliant conversationalist but because you really are trustworthy begins with High Listening IQ.
It'll lead you to dominance and strategic preeminence in most domains. See for yourself.
There are keys to winning tricky contract, coveted jobs or business deals without pitching.
Develop them.
I've addressed Customer Experience and Customer Satisfaction in a series. Begin here. But in a world full of quitters, Mental Strength is the ultimate secret prize and transferable skill.
Click or tap below.
Professionalism begins with respecting customers through impeccable quality and performance, achieved and delivered first, by getting People, Strategy Execution and Crisis or Cyber Risk Management, right.
A notable example here is the Insider Threat/Risk vs. Access Governance, HR, IP & IT Security (AKA Snowden) Problem. Also recommended and hyperlinked, this book:
Professionalism isn't about how loud, two-faced and/or obnoxious one is. Authenticity and Consistency are key. So is being able to back up whatever one claims is their expertise.
Like leadership, Professionalism is also not a position, but rather, constantly evolving, plus consistently positive, constructive set of qualities seen through the prism of habits and skills that one commits to honing over a lifetime.
Such is the story of one of America's “Best Places To Work”, FleishmanHillard. The firm (at the time of writing, years ago, was) “ranked as having the best reputation among the PR field”. And whose selection process, like that of American Express, is thorough.
So what's the simplest definition of a professional?
Further, professionalism isn't a coat of pretense one puts on to suit an occasion only to take off when it suits them.
I remember once receiving a call from a woman claiming to work for the Shanghai branch of architecture giant SOM (Skidmore, Owing & Merrill).
She was articulate. But throughout our conversation I was a little taken aback by the verbose, self-assured promises, professions and affirmations she kept making in the name of the organization.
As quickly as she appeared on my (telephone and e-mail) radar, she was 'gone with the wind'. And there was no professional acknowledgement when we attempted ensuring she had everything she'd previously requested.
That is classic inauthenticity. But it is also why it pays to train your employees about phishing, and other social engineering tactics to avoid so as to protect your organization from debilitating cyber attacks or crimes.
Honesty is all about speaking the truth without calculating or factoring in consequences, rewards, or risks. And as you'll see below: is one of the 3 Core Values of the United Nations.
It is derived from a person or organization's (moral) code of honor, and/or (professional) ethics below which they resolve to never stoop, lest they compromise, devalue, debase or jeopardize their identity, dignity, mission and/or vision.
For example, fact: I work only for certain organizations sharing my values and have resigned from a company where a "supervisor" physically threatened and verbally abused me among a litany of professional improprieties and violations.
All unauthentic ("gotcha-type") communication attempts are filtered out so the humanity, dignity, productivity (i.e., more important priorities or direction/goals) of the individual, artist or visitor on the other side of the pixel is preserved, as is the positive energy or narrative they're trying to put out. Why?
Hans Hofmann encapsulates the perfect answer and underlying purpose-driven aim best: “The ability to simplify means eliminating the unnecessary so that the necessary can speak.”
CEO and philanthropist Manoj Bhargava's well-known policy is simple: “No aggravation...Aggravation is the largest cost in business.” There are a number of unethical business models by unethical and/or psychopathic people profiting from aggravation, disrespect and sadism online.
Yet the United Nations doesn't believe in the fallacious notion of “respect must be earned”.
And neither do I, for good reason.
When you begin with unconditional respect for humanity or an employee, you have a better chance of exciting passion in your employees or people you come into contact with; achieving productivity and high performance on the scale of companies on the Fortune 500 or 'Most Admired' list, say. And lasting human relations and cooperation which happens to be a by-product of mutual understanding is also realized. Which leads us to the 3 Core Values of the United Nations followed by Core Competencies on which the foregoing habits, skills and qualities (esp, Professionalism) rest.
Professionalism is all about readily observable and consistent behaviors and attitudes that form the basis of a person's character and in turn drives their high standard of performance.
Moreover, that standard isn't just pulled out of thin air, hence the relevance of Henry Ward Beecher's exhortation: “Hold yourself to a higher standard than anyone else expects of you. Never excuse yourself.”
You cannot just go from nothing to something. And businesses like FleishmanHillard, which was founded in 1946, high performers, high profile organizations as well the United Nations recognize that.
That's why we have Core Competencies that great recruiters seek.
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The Leadership Series ▼ Brain-Dead Hiring Practices To Ditch
PEACE
TT
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