Smarten-Up Your Professionalism

Being more professional in the office can help you in many ways. You can gain respect from others, and it can help with being promoted.

Here are a few tips you can demonstrate to make yourself seem more professional. I’m not saying they’re easy, but they are simple… Keep in mind, nobody demonstrates them all constantly. You’re only human. Just try to be the best human you can be.

1. Authenticity

It’s good entrepreneurial advice to “fake it till you make it,” but your performance needs to be grounded in truth. Otherwise, no matter your skills, your deficits, your interests – or frankly, even the things you aren’t interested in – people can tell

2. Be well groomed and appropriately dressed

You should come into work every day clean and well-groomed to ensure you have a professional appearance.

3. Discretion

Caring and self-awareness, combined with good communications ability, leads to prudence and the ability to be candid without giving offense.

4. Performance

Nothing says “professional” like accomplishments, especially repeated accomplishments over time.

5. Confidence

This one is my most favorite of them all. Confidence without the ability to back it up is useless, but if you’re truly competent, own it.

6. Self-awareness

This is a part of displaying confidence – knowing who you are and where you fit in the world, and owning your strengths and weaknesses.

7. Strategic thinking

Truly professional people identify their goals, then work backward to achieve them.

8. Communicating effectively

Speak clearly, and speak up when necessary. To communicate professionally, you need to show you can write and speak with confidence and clarity. Be an active listener during meetings and discussions and wait until someone is finished speaking to share your thoughts.

9. Maintain a positive attitude

Often, a professional attitude is a positive and motivated one. To be successful, you will need to demonstrate to others that you have the skills and knowledge to perform your duties and responsibilities.

10. Reliability

People can depend on you to show up on time, submit your work when it’s supposed to be ready, and this is another way of building your colleagues, managers and clients relationship.

Remember, “professionalism is not a label you give yourself, it’s a description you hope others will apply to you”.

– Lexie