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What defines a professional
manager?
Is it a term that
hinges around the monetary aspects of a manager's work, or is
it a term that deals with the character and make up of the
manager in question, or their ability to deliver quality work?
All of these factors
figure into the equation.
A professional in
any occupation is a person who is paid for a service with
which they are providing. Whether this service is under an
exclusive contract from a particular company, or is being
provided as work for hire, the professional is being
compensated for their work monetarily. However, money by
itself, as attractive as it can be, doesn't make a
professional. More important than the financial rewards that
can be allotted to a manager or their abilities, is a clear
understanding of what it means to act in a professional
manner.
The building block
around which a manager constructs his/her professionalism, is
attitude. A positive attitude is the one thing that
can benefit a manager more than anything else. A positive
attitude can not be an imposed behavior modification on the
part of any manager, or person for that matter. Rather, it is
something that has to be learned through acquiring a
competence for the correct way in which to behave, to present
yourself, and to use criticism as a tool for advancement. It
can be tailored to fit the individual, because not everyone
who possesses a positive attitude, displays it in the same
manner.
The foremost
ingredient to attaining a positive attitude, is self esteem.
As a manager it is the crucial primary factor behind
performance. If you don’t take pride in yourself and
your work, your work will suffer for it. An easy equation to
remember is that your self esteem is almost equal to the value
of your work. In a manager's case his/her own performance and
that of his/her unit/team.
Another crucial
factor in my definition of a professional manager, revolves
around the ability to honor commitment. A manager who can’t be
depended on to honor commitments is unprofessional and
intolerable.
Finally, when I
define a manager as professional, I think of a person who
respects his/her profession and has the dedication to deliver
competent performance time and again. |
