If there is one thing you can easily pick out from all the #iamaprofessional posts on LinkedIn in the past week, it is that professionalism differs from one industry to another. As an entrepreneur who has started and run businesses across different industries, I can attest that what is professional in one industry, might not be for the next one.
The first business I ever ran was in the tech space, and as we can attest, there are no strict rules to professional looks in tech. What we see these days is that the ‘techie’ is more associated with jeans and T-shirts. As an engineer, Jeans had always been a part of my dressing as it is what we use in site visits. With this background, I did not have any problems with my dressing.
However, when I moved on to the second business (which was in the finance space), I encountered a different orientation. This was an industry that was big on dressing, precisely black suits, white shirts, ties, and the likes. The first presentation I made to clients was a washout, not because I was not adequately prepared, but because the clients took one look at my dressing and tagged me ‘unserious’. I had put in all the time to prepare a power pitch, did all the research for my proposal but ended up walking into a room where I was the only person who failed to put on a suit.
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Professionalism is fair, not just to you, but to others in the space, and their perception. If a certain way of dressing would make people uncomfortable doing business with you, you may have to make some adjustments. That is what professionalism is to me, and I think when I realized that professionalism was going to differ from one industry to another, that was the point I became a professional entrepreneur.
Thanks to LinkedIn, I can simply go find out what the standard is from the best people in any industry. From the contents they post to the way they engage, I can access all of that on LinkedIn. A professional entrepreneur will blend into any sector he gets into, and become a professional.
Indeed. This makes all the sense.
Many hide under the guise of been too important to be accepted on their on terms, yet, aside this sounding too arrogant, it is foolish as well
Growing up, although the easy way, I learnt from the life of Joseph- the dreamer the biblical hallmark of character and competency.
Yes, character shown in understanding how to stand before and manage greatness.
You could see it in his move of shaving properly even when Pharaoh was under duress.
Thank you for sharing Mr Samuel.