Royal Bank LetterPublished by Royal Bank of Canada

Vol. 71 No. 6 November/December 1990

The Soul of ProfessionalismWho is a professional and who is not?

The question is confusing. Professionalismmeans several different things. The onlycertainty about it is that it cannot beconferred by others. Professionalism

must come from within ...

The current use of the word "professional" inreference to business attitudes is ironic in view of itstraditional meaning. For centuries in western societies,a professional was precisely what a business personwas not, It was commonly assumed that there wasa higher purpose to professional activities than merelymaking a living. This put professional people on ahigher social level than those "in trade," who in turnwere assumed to have only money in mind whendoing their work.

The idea that a profession had a moral dimensiondenied to more straightforward commercial pursuitscould be traced to the origin of the word in the MiddleAges. Then, a professional was someone who hadvowed or "professed" to devote his or her life to theservice of God. It did not take long for certain secularworkers to point out that they too had taken vowsto serve mankind in the same selfless spirit. Thusteachers (or "professors"), physicians and lawyerscombined with the clergy to form the professionalclass.

In theory, professional people put ethics ahead ofmoney-making or other personal interests. In practice,the reverse was often the case as professional codeswere wantonly honoured in the breach. Sleazy lawyersfigure prominently in the literature of Elizabethantimes, demonstrating that today’s professionalscandals draw on a long and dishonourable tradition.But since the majority of professionals over the agesproved honourable enough to retain public respect,the established professions enjoyed a degree of socialesteem that was the envy of similar occupationalgroups.

These strove to gain greater prestige by claimingprofessional status. By the beginning of this century,dentists, accountants, engineers, architects and others

had been formally added to the list of professions.From then on, the meaning of the word expandedinformally to include other workers who haduniversity degrees or the equivalent, and did not dirtytheir hands in their jobs.

Dictionaries took to defining a profession broadlyas a "calling involving some branch of learning."These days, yuppies (young urban professionals)constitute a type rather than a social class. They areidentified more by how much money they make andhow they spend it than by their specific careers.

Money has always had a good deal to do with thepublic perception of the professions, since doctors,lawyers and the rest are known for their relatively highincomes. At the same time, though, it has beenunderstood that there are some acts forbidden byethical codes which no amount of money can enticea scrupulous professional to commit.

Indeed, professionalism in its purest form calls fora dedication which transcends pecuniary or any otherprivate considerations. One of the most tellingillustrations of what being a professional is all aboutcame in an anecdote told by a World War IIcorrespondent who once encountered a nursing nuntending to some horribly wounded and diseasedJapanese prisoners.

"I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars," saidthe newspaperman.

"Neither," said the nun, "would I."But professionalism has a second meaning which

collides directly with the spirit of the first. In thesecond sense of the word, a professional will doabsolutely anything for money. One could be a"professional" torturer if the price were right.

Being a professional in this sense also means doingfor pay what others do for nothing. It is the opposite

of being an amateur, although in its application tosports, the distinction between the two designationshas become blurred.

The mixing of amateur and professional values insports has raised moral as well semantic confusion.The amateur sportsman or sportswoman plays a gamefor its own sake, and theoretically puts a higher valueon sportsmanship than on winning. A professionalin the second meaning of the word theoretically playsabove all for profit; if something unsportsmanlikemust be done for the sake of making that profit, thenby definition it will be done.

The interactionbetween

professional prideand standards of

workmanship

Being a professional further means doing full-timewhat others do part-time or occasionally. A

professional pho-tographer, for example,takes pictures not just onvacation, but day in andday out. If a professionalmusician does not per-form every day, he orshe practices every day to

maintain professional standards of performance. Themark of a professional is being ready to performwhether one feels like it or not.

The saying that "the show must go on" might notbe taken seriously in an amateur theatrical company,but it is an article of faith among professionaltroupers. Amateur athletes might skip a game becausetheir muscles ache or they have personal business toattend to. Pro athletes "come to play" despite sprainsor bruises or whatever psychological troubles mightbe weighing on their minds.

Once on the field, they throw themselves body andsoul into the game, putting their personal feelings andpreoccupations behind them. So the "real pro" at anyactivity can be relied upon consistently to do his orher best.

In most cases, that "best" will be better than anamateur’s. Here we come to another perception ofprofessionalism, which is that professionals are verygood at their work.

Hence the expression "a really professional job,"which could just as easily apply to the serving of ameal or the installation of a window as to a surgicaloperation or a set of architectural drawings. In thisinstance, performing professionally means doing a jobthat is well worth the price being charged.

Professional pride interacts with professionalstandards of workmanship. One is proud to be ableto do an outstanding job; one will not do less thanan outstanding job because one is proud.

In many cases, professional pride may be mingledwith the animal joy a person finds in the exercise of

a natural ability. Those with a strong talent for aparticular line of work may feel that this is what theywere born for. Young people with this conviction havea sense of professional dedication before they evertake up their specialties.

"He was in love with his work, and he felt anenthusiasm for it which nothing but the work we cando well inspires in us," the American man of lettersWilliam Dean Howells wrote of a colleague. Here hetouched on three attributes of a great professional inany field: a sense of vocation, enthusiasm, and thespecial inspiration which is generated from within.

But, as Jean de la Bruyere remarked aboutauthorship, it "requires more than mere genius" toperform up to professional standards of proficiency.If a professional will normally surpass a giftedamateur at most activities, that is because theprofessional has applied the mortar of technique tothe bricks of natural ability.

There are little tricks of any trade which becomesecond nature if one practices them constantly. Theselend an unconscious professional touch to the expertpractitioner’s every working move.

As the American biographer Bernard de Votowrote, "the skilful man is, within the function of hisskill, a different integration, a different nervous andmuscular and psychological organization .... A tennisplayer or a watchmaker or an airline pilot is anautomatism but he is also criticism and wisdom."

The criticism referred to is more likely to be ofoneself than of others. What has been said of a truescholar may be said of any true professional -- thathe or she is constantly seeking and finding his or herown mistakes.

The polish that makes a professional piece of workshine is usually the result of copious sweat and perhapseven tears of frustration. The more agonizingly onetoils at it, the finer the product. As Daniel Websterwrote about his own sometime profession, "If hewould be a great lawyer, he must first consent to bea great drudge."

Professionals haveconfidence, but

not over-confidence, intheir abilities

The first thing a novice notices about an old proin any field is that he orshe makes difficult taskslook easy. Along withtheir other acquired ex-pertise, professionals be-come expert at nevershowing the intensity oftheir efforts. They are

more aware than anyone of the meaning of theclassical aphorism, "The perfection of art is to concealthe art."

The English language has nevei" known a more

readable stylist than Charles Lamb, whose proseflowed with the clarity and brilliance of spring water.But his author-sister Mary, in a letter to friend, hasleft us with a endearing picture of how painfully heachieved his mastery: "You would like to see us, aswe often sit writing at the same table .... I taking snuff,and he groaning all the while, and saying he can makenothing of it, which he always says till he is finished,and then he finds out he has made something of it."

Lamb’s uncertainty over his work clashes with theimage of cool professionalism held by the public.Seasoned professionals are supposed to "know theirstuff," meaning that they know exactly what they aredoing at any given time, and that they know theirsubjects inside-out.

Professional persons tend to present an air of calmcapability to the world for the very good reason thatwhat they essentially have to sell is trustworthiness.None of us would want a dentist who is evidentlyunsure of which tooth to drill or an accountant whoconfesses his confusion over a newly-passed tax law.

And indeed thoroughgoing professionals must haveconfidence in their own abilities. It is self-confidencethat allows them to break with tried and truetechniques in the search of fresh approaches toproblems.

Professional self-confidence comes from having asure grasp of the fundamentals of one’s subject.Where self-confidence goes wrong is when seniorpractitioners in a field become too sure of what theyknow, and come to believe that they have completelymastered their subject. When they conclude that theyknow all there is to know, they are no longerorofessionals, but hacks.

Almost everyoccupation hasbecome like a

profession, in whichsomething is

always developing

Complacency is a distinctly unprofessional trait.The reason there arescholarly journals is tomake it possible forprofessional men andwomen to maintain aknowledge of the cease-less developments intheir chosen subjects.

The journals also carry debates over new ideas in thefield, which stimulate lively and creative thought aboutprofessional concerns.

If there is one characteristic of the establishedprofessions which sets them apart from otheremployment, it is the continual renewal of knowledgeand expertise through publications, conferences,seminars and so forth. That distinction, however, isbecoming less and less relevant with the passage oftime.

It was once possible for a man or woman to get

a job in business or public service and retire from it50 years later with pretty much the same body ofknowledge he or she acquired in the first few monthsof working. Now, almost every occupation in thewestern economy has become like the professions, inwhich something new is always happening to enhanceknowledge and alter techniques.

Technicians and crafts persons nowadays areconstantly having to learn about new equipment,processes and methods. People in sales are just asconstantly being called upon to learn the intricaciesof ever more complex product lines.

In no industry are products and conditions the sametoday as they were two or three years ago. Keepingabreast of developments has become a way of life foranyone involved in administration, production,servicing, or sales.

The renewal of knowledge is only one of thecharacteristics of the established professions which arebecoming common in other occupations. Assummarized by the American newspaper executiveCharles E. Scripps, some others are "high academicstandards, rigorous training, peer review, and permitby way of government licence or some otherempowered body."

Mr. Scripps made his observations in a letter tothe editor of a journalistic trade magazine. In it, heconcentrated on professionalism in the context ofpublic responsibility. He pointed out that anyoneresponsible for the physical or psychological wellbeingof other people is capable of causing great harm whichcannot be completely dealt with by the legal system.Journalists clearly are in a position to cause suchharm.

For many years there has been talk about havingjournalism designated as a profession, if only toencourage journalists to exercise greater responsibility.Mr. Scripps argued against such a move because ofthe threat it raises of government control.

Going down a list of "professions," he wrote: "Thepractices of medicine, or tennis, or prostitution arenot civil rights or human rights. The right to speakand write, to hear and read, are human rightseverywhere and civil rights in civilized nations.Journalism is a noble calling, a skilled craft, arespectable trade, or ignoble, sloppy, or disreputabledepending on the character and skill of thepractitioner."

In this he echoed the widely-held opinion amongjournalists that professionalism is where you find it.Professional and unprofessional journalists may workside by side on the same story or even in the samenews room.

Whether a particular person deserves to be called

It is impossible tocurtail cheatingamong businesspeople who areinclined to cheat

professional or not de gends entirely on howconscientiously he or shecollects and handles in-formation. It can be ar-gued that the sameapplies to lawyers or ac-countants or architects;that calling them profes-sionals does not neces-

sarily make them act like professionals. Some do andsome do not.

Because dereliction inevitably occurs in the best-regulated of professional families, some have formedtheir own governing councils with powers to punishoffenders by expulsion if necessary. One reasonjournalism has never formally become a professionis that is too amorphous to allow for the kind of self-regulation practised in the law, medicine and the like.

Journalism ranges in quality from newspapers andmagazines in which every word is checked foraccuracy to tabloids full of "reports" about the ghostsof movie stars, grotesque multiple births and visitorsfrom other planets. Add to these the electronic mediain all their diversity, and it is just too unwieldy forany professional body to grapple with.

If journalism is too big to lend itself to the formalimposition of professional discipline, how much moreso is the whole broad field of business. True,individual industries -- notably those having to dowith personal finance -- have set strict standards ofethics and training for people in sales. Still, there isno controlling behaviour in business in general. Anyproduct can be made a little cheaper, a little lessreliable, a little less safe; anything can be sold underfalse pretenses to those who have no need for it. Shortof the law, which by no means covers all cases, it isimpossible to curtail cheating among business peopleinclined to cheat.

So, despite all the talk about "sales professionals,""management professionals" and the like, business

people are unlikely ever to gain public recognition asprofessionals in the traditional sense of the word.Instead, professionalism in business necessarily willremain a matter of actions speaking louder thanwords.

In the end, theprofessional manor woman is onewho behaves in aprofessional way

Like all professionals worthy of the name, businessprofessionals will put their customers’ welfare before

any personal considera-tion. They will neverstop renewing and im-proving their knowledgeand skills. They will con-duct themselves with dueprofessional pride andintegrity. They will not

cut corners, whether in terms of ethics, performance,or quality.

Never has there been more need than there is todayfor professional attitudes in business. The large-scalefinancial failures in North America in recent yearswere brought about by a lack of the qualities whichprofessionalism implies.

These include not only the ethical qualities impliedin the first meaning of the term, but the workmanlikequalities implied in the second. The two meaningsconverge when they come to professionalism inbusiness, because the business professional must beboth a scrupulous dealer and outstanding at his orher work.

"A great society is one in which men of businessthink greatly of their functions," the philosopherAlfred North Whitehead wrote. To think greatly ofthose functions is to regard doing business as aprofession whether or not it is so called.

In essence, the professional man or woman is onewho behaves professionally, not necessarily one whohas been certified by a licencing body. Professionalismcannot be conferred on you by other people. Itconsists of what you expect from yourself.