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I don’t know why I write about the topics I do. It’s whatever hit’s me at the moment I’m ready to write. Sometimes an idea might come the week before, mainly because of what I’ve seen on Social Media(SM).
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Lordy be!
I have come to the conclusion that I am not supposed to be on this earth.
I don’t mean that from a “I’m suicidal” type thing…..I mean it from the standpoint as I see and hear things all day long, I just can’t wrap my brain around the unprofessionalism of it all.
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Professionalism –the competence or skill expected of a professional
Professional –a person engaged or qualified in a profession.
If we go by the above definitions, all of us are Professionals. We engage or are qualified in the Beauty Industry, licensed.
Therefore, we are expected to be competent or skilled.
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However, what does Professionalism have to do with the way we present ourselves. The way we talk to others, our appearance, our attitude? After all, if we are a true Professional aren’t we not just a credit to ourselves, but to others as well?
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10 qualities of a true Professional:
- Appearance
- Demeanour
- Reliability
- Competence
- Ethics
- Maintaining Your Poise
- Phone Etiquette
- Written Correspondence
- Organizational Skills
- Accountability
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Now, I’m not going to through all 10, however, I do feel there is a couple specifically to mention.
- Appearance – external show : outward indication
- Demeanor – outward manner
- Phone Etiquette (SM) – the conduct or procedure required by good breeding or prescribed by authority to be observed in social or official life
- Ethics – the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation
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Appearance;
What do we look like on the outside. What do you see, what do other people see.
- Wrinkled clothes
- beat up shoes
- unravelled hair
- stains on your clothes
It is what the eye sees and is a BIG part of Professionalism. You not only have to know the part, you should absolutely look the part.
Unfortunately, appearance is what we are most commonly judged on.
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Demeanor;
What do we look like on the inside. What attitude, action or non-action are we portraying.
- weak
- Aggressive
- Passive
- Over confident
It is what the eye sees and is a BIG part of Professionalism. You not only have to know the part, you should absolutely act the part.
Unfortunately, demeanor is what we are most commonly made fun about.
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Etiquette;
- Know it all
- abusive
- defiant
- story teller
SM(social media) is the new phone etiquette. There are manners to be learned when on social media. You are a Professional, through and through. Many people sabotage their Professionalism on SM.
SM is the COVID19 of the internet.
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Ethics;
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These in a nutshell is the ground zero of Professionalism.
If you know you are faltered in any one of these areas, that is where your Educational focus should be.
Professionalism must be your whole way of living….of being.
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It saddens me to see the lack of Professionalism being portrayed of our industry Social Media. Just in the last week I have witnessed;
- Presentations with stained clothing
- Unprofessional communications
- Mis-information
- Immature behavior
- Aggressive, abusive, defiant behavior
It’s crazy. It’s crazy because the lack of Professionalism on our SM sites, over shadows the enormous amount of talent we have in our Industry.
It’s sad because this type of attitude is what is being “put out there”. Once there…..it always swings back.
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Whats my point?
I’ve advocated for years and still do, the need in the industry to “change our image”.
Yes, we have to let the world know we are knowledgable and talented enough to handle the challenges of Nail care and Foot care which is around in our Industry today.
However, as I believe “knowledge is power”, I also believe presentation is a part of that power.
We not only have to be knowledgeable about what we need to know, we have to be knowledgeable and aware of our presentation. Our presentation including, Appearance, demeanor, etiquette, ethics and more!
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CJ, thank you for this insight on Professionalism. Yes, professionalism should be the next topic. I believe education on any topic is always a good thing. For some, professionalism will be new to them—you don’t know what you never learned. And others, a refresher to get them back on track. This would be a great way to re-enter our profession as we interact COVID-19.
Thank you Tori, and yes…I agree!