Journey Towards Professionalism: Straight Talk for Today's Generation

Welcome to the real world. Something inside you has finally clicked and you feel the need to step your game up professionally. Great decision! Perhaps you have decided to throw in the towel of immaturity and get your head in the game at work. If so that is one of the smartest decisions you will ever make in your life! Or you may just be starting out in the professional world and want to go in the door on the right foot. Congratulations! No matter what direction you are coming from you are making the right choice! Believe it or not, by deciding to take on this daunting task of being professional you have actually done what your parents have either been secretly saying they wish you would do - or they have actually said it to your face.

Grow up.

Deciding to do something about your career, or lack thereof, has caused you to just grow up. People on 12 step programs or just normal folks with problems that have had to fix them themselves have all learned the same thing. That is, at one point or another actually admitting the problem is a huge first step. By deciding you need to be more professional in your career means you have admitted to yourself that you need to make improvements. Great job!

In any business setting, being a professional and having success means you cannot have your cake and eat it too. Sorry…I know you are disappointed. Having your cake and eating it too is reserved for rock stars and actors. Unless your workplace is a privately held company and you are the sole owner, you have to answer to someone and play by their rules. Now that starts with your first interview at the company and ends on your last day of employment. (It may the last day of your life, depending on if the company works you to death!) “They” refers to a long list that starts with your boss and goes all the way up to the CEO and shareholders. You will have restrictions in most cases – handcuffs –but they are made out of gold. Gold in that the longer you wear the handcuffs, the better you are at playing by their rules. The more professionally you handle yourself then the more opportunities for advancement, better pay, and promotions will hopefully be afforded you. All of that translates into the gold in the handcuffs I am referring to. But you have to play by the rules and these are rules you don't make. You may not even get to have an opinion on the rules, even though your opinion may be right.

It’s kinda like living with your parents 8 hours a day and getting paid for it.

This book will talk a lot about those unwritten rules because you have chosen to wear the golden handcuffs of being professional in the workplace. It may seem a burden, especially at first. But in the long run it will pay dividends and dollar signs if you do it right.

That’s it. If you can handle wearing the golden handcuffs that your employer will hand you on the first day of work – you are good. You have already started your mindset of being a professional and you should proceed on to the first chapter. If you can't do it, put the book down, move on and I wish you luck – you’ll need it. If you are still up for the challenge then by all means continue!