Sometimes, a simple conversation stays with you long after it has ended.
Someone says something, you listen, the conversation moves on, but the thought doesn’t leave you. You begin examining it, questioning it and applying it to everyday life.
Recently, one such conversation caused me to reflect on two words we use regularly:
Profession and occupation.
There are, of course, technical differences between the two. Traditionally, a profession is associated with specialized knowledge, education, training and established standards of practice, while an occupation generally refers to the work someone does to earn a living.
But I am not interested in giving a dictionary lesson.
I am interested in something deeper.
How do we approach the work we do every day?
Because I have come to believe that you can have an occupation and bring a deeply professional mindset to it.
And equally, someone can hold an impressive professional title and still simply occupy a position.
There is a difference.
The Taxi Driver Who Made Me Think
Imagine two taxi drivers collecting visitors from the airport. The first greets the passengers, assists with their luggage, drives them safely to their destination, collects the fare and says goodbye.
Nothing is necessarily wrong with that. The service requested was transportation, and transportation was provided. But imagine another driver. The passengers enter the vehicle and immediately hear:
“Welcome to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
As the journey continues, the driver begins introducing them to the country.
“This community is called…”
“That building has an interesting history…”
“Over there you can see…”
“If you have some free time during your visit, you may want to experience…”
The driver knows something about the history, culture, food, attractions and people of the country. Perhaps he has taken time to read. Perhaps he follows developments in tourism.
Perhaps he understands that for some visitors, he may be one of their first encounters with the country. By the time those visitors arrive at their destination, they haven’t simply received transportation.
They have had an experience.
Same occupation…….Same vehicle……Same road……Same destination. But an entirely different approach to the work.
One sees a passenger who needs to get from Point A to Point B. The other sees an opportunity to provide a service, represent a country and leave an impression. That is the difference I am talking about.
Now Bring That Into Our Workplaces
Think about your own workplace. Two people can hold the same position, work the same hours, receive similar salaries and perform similar duties, yet approach their responsibilities completely differently. One learns just enough to get through the day. The other wants to understand.
They research……They read…..They ask questions…..They keep themselves informed.
They attend training and try to apply what they have learned……They don’t only want to know what must be done; they want to understand why it is done.
When something changes in their field, they want to know about it.
When new technology emerges, they try to understand how it can help.
When they make a mistake, they learn from it.
And when they don’t know something, they are not ashamed to say:
“I don’t know, but I will find out.”
There is something admirable about that mindset.
It says: If my name is going to be attached to this work, I want to do it well.
Whatever Your Work Is, Learn Your Work
If you are a receptionist, you are not simply answering a telephone. You may be someone’s first impression of an entire organisation. If you are a teacher, you are not simply delivering notes.
You are communicating knowledge to minds that will eventually leave your classroom and enter society.
If you are an administrator, you are not simply moving documents from one desk to another. There are policies, systems, deadlines, people and consequences behind those documents.
If you are a nurse, your education should not end with the qualification hanging on the wall. Knowledge changes. Practice changes. People deserve someone who continues to learn.
If you are a mechanic, technology is changing the vehicles that arrive at your garage. Yesterday’s knowledge may not be sufficient for tomorrow’s vehicle.
If you are a business owner, selling the product is only one part of the experience. How do customers feel when they interact with you?
If you are a cleaner, your work contributes directly to the health, safety, comfort and appearance of an environment.
If you are a security officer, learn your protocols. Develop your communication. Remain observant. Understand the responsibility people have entrusted to you.
If you drive a taxi, don’t only know the roads.
Know something about the place through which you are driving.
Whatever you do, learn your work. And then keep learning it.
What About Leadership?
The same principle applies when someone becomes a supervisor or manager. An appointment letter may give someone the title. A promotion may provide an office. But neither automatically provides the knowledge required to lead people effectively. Management itself must be learned.
Do you understand how to communicate? Can you resolve conflict? Can you give constructive feedback without humiliating someone? Can you delegate? Can you listen? Do you understand the policies governing the people you supervise? Can you correct someone respectfully? Can you acknowledge when an employee has a better idea than yours? Do you know how to motivate people? And when you realize you don’t know something, are you willing to learn?
A person who approaches management professionally understands that being good at a technical job does not automatically make someone good at leading others.
So, they develop themselves. They read. They research. They attend training. They observe effective leaders.
They learn from poor leadership too sometimes by deciding what they will never repeat. They ask questions. They listen. They grow.
Because a title gives you a position; it does not automatically give you mastery of it.
“I’ve Been Doing This for Twenty Years.”
We hear this sometimes. And twenty years of experience can be incredibly valuable.
But there is a question worth asking:
Have I accumulated twenty years of growth, or have I repeated the same year twenty times?
Experience should teach us something.
The world is changing too quickly for any of us to believe that what we learned ten, fifteen or twenty years ago will always be sufficient.
Technology changes…….Industries change……Policies change……..Research changes………Customer expectations change………..The workplace changes…….People change.
So experience should never make us unteachable. Neither should qualifications. There is no degree high enough to eliminate the need to keep learning. There is no position senior enough to make new knowledge irrelevant. And there should be no point in our working lives when we decide:
“I know enough.” But Professionalism Is More Than Knowledge
You can know your job exceptionally well and still lack professionalism. Because professionalism is also reflected in how you conduct yourself. It is in your integrity.
Your reliability…..Your punctuality……Your communication…….Your attitude……Your confidentiality…….Your respect for others…….Your willingness to accept responsibility when you are wrong.
It is how you treat the person who can help your career and how you treat the person who cannot. It is how you behave when the supervisor is present and when the supervisor leaves. It is responding to people with dignity even when you are having a difficult day. It is understanding that the person standing before you may not know your internal procedures and shouldn’t be made to feel foolish because they don’t. It is taking pride in something because your name is attached to it, not merely because somebody is checking.
Professionalism is not only something we put on with our work clothes in the morning.
It is a standard. Sometimes the Job Is Not Your Passion And I think we should acknowledge this too. Not everyone is currently working in the job of their dreams.
Sometimes you accept a position because you have bills to pay.
Sometimes the opportunity you really want hasn’t come yet.
Sometimes you studied one thing and ended up working in another field.
Sometimes you simply need employment. That is life.
So, this article is not telling anyone that they must suddenly become passionate about a job they genuinely do not enjoy. Rather, I am suggesting:
While it is in your hands, give it a professional approach.
Learn what you can. Develop transferable skills. Treat people properly. Build a reputation for quality. Do the work with integrity. Prepare yourself for whatever comes next.
Your present occupation may not be your final destination, but there is still something it can teach you along the journey.
What If We Changed the Question?
Many of us begin the workday thinking:
“What do I have to do today?”
What if we occasionally asked:
“How can I do what I have to do better?”
What can I learn?
What can I improve?
What have I been doing simply because “that’s how we always did it”?
Is there a more efficient way? Can technology help? Can I communicate better? Can I make someone’s experience easier? What knowledge am I missing? What has changed in my field since I first entered it?
And perhaps the most challenging question:
What will be better because I worked here?
Imagine the difference that mindset could make across our workplaces.
Not only from employees. From supervisors. From managers. From business owners. From professionals. From those just entering the workforce. And from those approaching retirement. All of us.
Make Your Daily Work More Than an Occupation
Again, I am not attempting to rewrite the dictionary.
Not every occupation becomes a formally recognised profession simply because someone performs it well.
I am speaking about mindset. Whatever your occupation, bring professionalism to it, bring curiosity, bring knowledge, bring integrity, bring respect, bring service, bring excellence, bring a willingness to learn, don’t merely occupy the chair. Learn the chair.
Understand why it exists, understand whom it serves, understand the responsibilities attached to it, develop yourself while sitting in it and when the time comes for someone else to occupy that chair, let there be evidence that you were there.
Leave a better system, leave better records, leave knowledge somebody else can use, leave people you helped to develop, leave something that works better than when you found it., leave a standard worth continuing.
We Learn Not for School, but for Life……That saying has remained with me for years:
“We learn not for school, but for life.” And perhaps the workplace is one of the greatest classrooms we will ever enter. A certificate tells us that we completed a course of study. A degree tells us that we satisfied certain academic requirements. A job title tells people the position we occupy. But none of those should signal the end of learning.
So, tomorrow morning, when we enter our respective workplaces and I include myself in this challenge perhaps we can ask: Am I merely occupying my position, or am I bringing a professional mindset to what I do?
Can I learn something more? Can I improve something? Can I help someone? Can I serve better? Can I communicate better? Can I leave this place a little better than I found it?
Because ultimately, there is a difference between showing up for work and showing up determined to make a difference through your work. Whatever your occupation may be, professionalize your approach to it. Don’t merely occupy a space.
Learn it. Grow in it. Give your best to it. And when your time there is finished, leave it better because you were there.
