Professionalism: A moving target

Consider the following scenario: You’re at a professional function of some sort, related to your work. Maybe it’s an industry conference where most of the attendees are your client base. You are making your way around the room, meet someone new by chance, and begin talking. You really hit it off and end up talking for half an hour. It’s great conversation, the kind with no awkward pauses and everything just flows like a healthy stream through a meadow. You part ways, wishing the conversation didn’t have to end.

The next day you get a friend request from your conversation partner on Facebook. Remember, they are someone in your professional life who would be a client, where you have to maintain a level of professionalism with them. Do you friend back?

Now let’s say you are a journalist, and your conversation partner was someone who would normally be a source to someone in your profession. Now what do you do with the request?

Or maybe the person you enjoyed speaking with so much was a student and you are a professor. Or you are a doctor and it’s someone who would fit your typical patient’s profile. Now what do you do?

It’s important to strive for professionalism, especially in a professional context like the one mentioned above. But professionalism is a constantly moving target. And much like firing an arrow at a moving bull’s eye, your best efforts could very well go awry.

Any number of variables effect how you are supposed to react and behave in a given situation. One variable is certainly your position. A CEO or manager is going to behave differently at a professional conference than an entry-level specialist. Likewise, many people in my profession, public relations, are going to be held to a different standard than an accountant or webmaster who might do most of their work behind the scenes. Our job is to represent something or someone in a very public way, therefore, we should always be aware how our interactions will reflect, promote or contextualize what we represent. Even in semi-casual settings.

Additionally, one’s age impacts how they define professionalism in certain situations. Many Millennials would have no qualms about friending back in some or all of the above situations, equating it to exchanging a phone number or e-mail address, just another means of communication and networking. But Baby Boomers and even members of Gen X would shudder at the thought of letting a professional acquaintance have access to their Facebook profile and their “other,” non-professional self, because they or their contemporaries place a premium on privacy.

As with most ethically sticky situations, common sense seems the best solution when it comes to trying to achieve professionalism. If you’re faced with a scenario where you have time to think at length, consider how your actions will represent your employer; your clients; your boss; your colleagues; your subordinates. When you decide on a course of action, step back and think about what you would think if a colleague acted the way you were planning to. And don’t be afraid to seek advice from a mentor or friend. If you’re faced with a snap decision, trust your judgment; it’s what got you this far.

So, how do you define professionalism, and what tactics do you use in your best efforts to maintain professionalism in your interactions?

A case for Twitter and SM

When I get together with my extended family, there are certain constants. Absurd amounts of good food, for example (takeout or eating out; my grandma doesn’t cook, never has. She had Thanksgiving catered!). One of the new constants among many of my family members is making fun of me for my use of social media, especially Twitter (@seanathompson).

I’m used to being made fun of for any number of things by my family. My slenderness; my tendency to sunburn at the lake; my ginormous head size (though we all have that curse, not just me!). It’s just something my family does. We all have robust senses of humor. But the mocking of my social media use bothers me a little. Mostly because I wish they got Twitter and other SM the way I do.

I’ve tried to explain Twitter to them. But like most other people who make fun of us social media-ites: they’re usually not too keen on listening. It’s that kind of closed-mindedness that frustrates me.

Of course, this criticism isn’t limited to my family. I’ve heard similar sentiments at work as well. Twitter and SM haters think it’s a waste of time. They think that I and others merely post updates about what kind of sandwich we’re eating. They claim that nobody cares what I or even a celebrity is doing at any given time.

Of course, the only sandwich I will ever tweet about is the Crispy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich from The Vine in Iowa City. Seriously, it’s so addictive, it’s deep-fried crack (courtesy Matt Farrell). But I fundamentally disagree that even pure status updates are insignificant. I for one am interested in what my friends are doing or what celebrities are doing/thinking.

Especially for celebrities and other well-known people, Twitter is a revolutionary tool. Never before has there been a marketing and public relations tool that lets well-known individuals connect directly to their fans and the public at large. There’s fast becoming no need to use the traditional mediums to communicate with consumers/fans/casual observers. Even the media now does much of its reporting using direct tweets from celebrities and other well-known people. While using tweets alone is lazy journalism, it’s certainly valid to use direct-quote tweets as part of one’s reporting.

This form of communication makes fans feel more directly connected to their favorite celebs than ever before. Such use of Twitter is only expanding. Of course, there are those who are now becoming celebrities in their own right because they’ve mastered Twitter and SM and are communicating things that other SM users are interested in consuming.

The other well-propagated myth courtesy of Twitter haters is that the “pointless” status updates are its only use. Nothing could be further from the truth. I started using Twitter as a status updater. Now, I feel like I’m only at the tip of the iceberg in terms of its use for news and information gathering, communicating, networking and professional development.

I get most of my news from Twitter. And no, that doesn’t mean I’m getting 140 chars on each story. If you’re interested in something, you follow the link and read on. Rather than going to 20 separate news sites, I follow 20 news twitter accounts, and get much more information than I would otherwise. It allows everyone to be their own reporter (which for a former reporter like me is quite a nice fix).

And as a former reporter transitioning into the world of public relations, I have learned more about my new profession in a month or two by following fellow PR pros than I could have reading any single book. And so far I’m only reading a fraction of the blogs that I should be and hope to be. I’ve also found free webinars that I know are going to make me a better professional and will benefit my research lab. SM is to thank for that.

The networking comes naturally with the professional development. That’s an element I’m looking forward to taking advantage of more in the near future. I’ve found some awesome and inspiring young gals and guys doing really innovative things, and I want to become a more active participant in the conversation myself.

Ultimately, maybe I can’t convince my family members or anyone the many beneficial and exciting uses for Twitter and other SM. As friend and tweeter extraordinaire Adam Sullivan said (tweeted) to me, “The only people who don’t like Twitter are the ones that don’t get it.” I’m not convinced I fully “get it” yet, but I’m eager and excited to continue learning. I’m utterly convinced that Twitter (or something like it) is the future of media. So you’re only hurting yourself if you’re not at least attempting to get it.

To paraphrase Rick Clancy, the head of social media for Sony “the conversation is happening with or without you.”