Professionalism in the Workplace
Most of us have had moments at work where we have had to refrain
from being anything but professional. Whether it’s someone you’re speaking with
over the phone or someone that you work with directly. It can be challenging to
hold your tongue when you know you’ve done nothing wrong or didn’t deserve to
be spoken to in a rude or unprofessional manner. Having great leaders in the
workplace and make all the difference when it comes to handling issues like
this. In my opinion, those in supervisory roles set the tone for others and
lead you down the right path. Leaders motivate you, push you to do your best,
guide you to success and prepare you for greater opportunities. Then there are
what I like to call “managers” who only manage and do not lead. Over the years
of working in a professional career I have had good leaders as well as managers.
Recently, I found myself in a rather uncomfortable situation
with a fellow colleague where this person relayed inaccurate information to a leader
in a higher role then us. I was approached by upper leadership regarding the
incorrect information and explained I had not made the error in fact it was the
colleague that provided this information. There have been minor situations with
this same colleague in the past, so I knew not to ask her why she provided the
wrong account of what happened. Instead, she approaches me. I was asked why I
provided incorrect information and advised her it was valid info. You could feel
the tension in the air and could cut it with a knife at this point. I can hear
her tone raise and how she was speaking to me as if she was above me when in
fact, she was not. She then starts to bring up her experience and how long she
has worked there as if that would make a difference as to who’s error it was. Her
tone continued to raise, and she started to become very rude. Upper leadership
has now returned calling her back into the office. At no point did I give in to
her unprofessional and rude behaviors. I stayed cool, calm, and collective and
was professional the entire time. Keeping a calm tone and responding
respectfully is key to getting your point across or helping someone understand your point of view.
It also helps de-escalate potentially bigger problems that could be prevented while putting you in control of the situation.
People will test you and try to take advantage of you or a
situation and it is solely up to you on how you handle yourself in the workplace.
How you handle yourself will be how a company and other colleagues see you as
a person and an employee. Luckily, I have had great leaders guide me and
prepare me for issues like this but I have also have terrible managers who have shown me what not to do or say. As much as you may want to fire back and go
willy-nilly on someone you just can’t. When you think people aren’t watching,
they are. Being professional and always treating people with respect, while under
pressure will take you to higher grounds. You also won’t feel awful for wrongfully
accusing someone in the end. I’ll end with - I think we all know
who got a promotion recently!
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