Professionality

My dad was doing a writeup for his team of engineers that he shared with me about what I'll call "professionality." The writeup presents good tips and humor that presents a sort of shaping guideline for professional success. I am cutting-and-pasting it here, paraphrasing it, and adding my own quips to sort of form my own.  Presence! Volunteer for any opportunity where you can learn something new, even if not glamorous Make yourself known as the can do guy Make sure others know you are willing and available What we can all learn from mans' best friend: Greet our loved ones every time as if we haven’t seen them for days Take a stretch before we commit to our next activity Hold our tongues and wag our tales (symbolically on the latter) Take a nap every now and then, always appear refreshed and ready for action Be loyal Always be eager for the next opportunity to interact/play Teamwork Lessons from the behavior of geese: Flying in formation adds 70% greater flying range than flying alone: Common direction gets you there quicker and easier. When a goose falls out of formation, it feels the drag and hurries back: There is strength, safety and power in numbers. When the lead goose gets tired, another goose rotates into the lead: it pays to take turns doing hard jobs! If a goose suffers misfortune, two others follow to help: Stand by your team! Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front: Those exercising leadership need active support and praise. Dilbert's "Salary Theorem" states that:         "Engineers and scientists can never earn as much as business executives and sales people."         This theorem can now be supported by a mathematical equation based on the following two postulates:         Postulate 1: Knowledge is Power.         Postulate 2: Time is Money.         As every engineer knows:         Power = Work / Time         And since:         Knowledge =Power         And:         Time = Money         It is therefore true that         Knowledge = Work / Money         Solving this equation for Money, we get:         Money = Work / Knowledge         Thus, as Knowledge approaches zero, Money approaches infinity, regardless of the amount of Work done.         Conclusion: The less you know, the more you make.    Communications Clarity is expertise. Dr. Beckwith was just a country doctor, but the people of Tillamook County thought of him as a renowned expert. Why? Because he communicated brilliantly – in language every injured Holstein farmer or truck driver could clearly understand. Dr. Beckwith’s clarity made him more than an expert. It made him the expert. Clarity cuts through the fog and conveys your value to prospective customers, to co-workers, to everyone you deal with. Clarity assures them that you will not cloud or confuse the issue. Clarity helps move people from confusion, which aggravates every person’s fear of the invisible or unknown, to confidence. To be seen as expert, be clearer in everything you say. Source - What Clients Love Development You might think that you get a performance review once a year. Wrong. You get reviewed every day. It’s an informal, unspoken review that you get in the hallways, team meetings and even the bathrooms. It’s whenever, wherever, forever. Being watched is how high potential people are identified. It’s the way low potential staff are identified as well!             Whether you like being watched and judged or not, it happens. Do what you can to have people see what you want them to see. It’s a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity. Source – Executive Charisma "If you can't do something smart, do something right." -Jayne Cobb, Serenity Information  Asking for Help. It is a strength to recognize when you need help and that you ask for it! Many view this as a weakness, it clearly is not. Don’t wait until it’s too late and you are already completely submersed. There are many avenues you can approach; your team mates, your PM, your Line Manager, your mentor, etc. ·     Withholding information can be a very bad habit. Information is power, and intentionally withholding information has the opposite effect of adding value. Reflect on how you feel about these events: ·         A meeting you weren’t told about ·         A memo/email you weren’t copied on ·         A moment when you were the last person to learn something Not sharing information rarely achieves the desired effect. In order to have power, you need to inspire loyalty rather than fear and suspicion. Here are a few unintentional ways of withholding information: ·         Failing to get back with someone ·         Forgetting to include someone ·         Delegating without proper explanation So how do you stop withholding information? Start sharing it! The above is from the book “What Got You here” ·     Take credit for your work, not for work of others. Always make sure you share the credit where credit is due. One may think that creating the appearance of being in the know places you in an elevated position with your manager, customer, or team mates. You can be guaranteed that it will catch up with you and often at a moment where you will be personally embarrassed.  “My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.” – Indira Gandhi  Assumptions ·     Assumptions are wonderful things as they enable us to move forward without having all of the answers in-hand. Without assumptions, most of our efforts would be stopped dead in their tracks. The danger of assumptions is in not communicating them to those who need to know. Clearly communicate your assumptions to the appropriate party(ies) and seek to validate them. The sooner you can validate an assumption, the less likely that you will need to repeat any work or worse, have to start down an entirely new path. Let your assumptions be challenged, and be open to the challenges. And never, ever assume that the other party understands what your assumptions are if you have not communicated them expressly and directly! ·         -Career Tip: Project Emails (IEEE Potentials, March/April 2009, Vol. 28, No. 2) Negotiating Your Viewpoint       1. Talk less, listen more. The other person wants to be heard. Encourage them to talk freely about their viewpoint. This will provide you insights into why they feel they way they do. Chances are the other person will reciprocate and be more attentive when you speak. 2. Don't interrupt. Interruptions make people angry and block communication. 3. Don't be belligerent. While it might be more difficult to be soft spoken than harsh, a soft-spoken approach encourages the same treatment from the other person. An argumentative attitude is rarely successful in changing another person's opinion. 4. Don't be in a rush to bring up your own points. As a rule it is best to hear the other person's full viewpoint before expressing your own. Ensure they are satisfied that they have stated their full case. 5. Restate the other person's viewpoint and objectives as soon as you understand them. People like to know they are being heard and understood. This is an inexpensive concession you can make. It forces you to listen better and helps you to frame your viewpoint in the other person's terms. 6. Identify the key discussion points you are interested in and focus on them. Cover one point at a time and avoid trying to overwhelm with arguments. Use evidence to support your viewpoint (e.g. knowledge, legitimacy, time and effort). 7. Don't digress. Try to keep the other person from digressing. It helps to agree on nonessential issues temporarily. Agree to postpone a seemingly difficult issue until later so you can focus on areas where you are more likely to gain agreement. 8. Be for a point of view -- not against one. 9. Instill satisfaction in the other party--satisfaction that you have heard and understand their viewpoint. This way if your viewpoint is the one that ultimately prevails, you will have strengthened your personal relationship with them. And set the stage for future discussions when your viewpoints again differ.