Practicing gracious professionalism is more than a habit. Rather, gracious professionalism becomes part of our professional and personal mantra.
Hardwiring gracious professionalism into how, why, where and when we do what we do continuously communicates our thankfulness to colleagues and clients.
Yes, a good start involves remembering to constantly thank others, sometimes for no particularly apparent reason. They show up, each and every day: for us and for others. Even when we feel tired, annoyed, unproductive and, at times, uninspired, a simple thank you is amazingly valuable and uplifting.
Then again, sometimes it is not easy practicing gracious professionalism.
Work environments become stressful, often impeding our ability to appreciate the value others bring to our business tables. Yet, like the Thanksgiving table, our business tables become our feast tables throughout the year.
Our goal is to create a joyous and thankful ecosystem in which to do our very best for each other and for our clients.
If we start to perceive our workspaces and conference rooms as banquet tables celebrating professionalism, instead of areas of confinement, we become more productive. Together. Think about it.
Over time, practicing gracious professionalism becomes second nature to how we do business.
When our default mode is graciousness, a calm comes over us, no matter how stressful the situation we find ourselves in.
Try it out. There is an emotional oasis within us, and its door graciously opens to let us in when required. From within our oasis, we gain greater perspective on the context of the external situation we are dealing with.
Then, when we exit our internal oasis, we carry gracious professionalism into the situation. Our calm helps others collaborate, diffusing difficult scenarios which trap colleagues in the status quo.
Starting this Thanksgiving, and moving forward, bring the spirit of gracious professionalism into the workplace.
Let us continuously make others aware of how thankful we are for their expertise and contributions. Extend our professionalism across the organization, communicating with people with whom we normally do not work.
Dispel unconscious bias and baggage which keeps professionals from enjoying each other’s collaborative company. Instead, lead from a spirit of gracious professionalism. Communicate how thankful we are for their insights. Then, seek greater clarity for what we do not understand in what they say to us.
Oftentimes, gracious professionalism starts just that simply.
Being gracious, and thankful, allow us to break down the professional, philosophical, social, educational and geographical walls which might continue to separate us.
My goal is to break down barriers impeding communication and collaboration between people. We are stronger and more creative together, than we are when we remain marginalized and isolated from each other.
Today, and each day, I thank my community of colleagues, readers and clients for allowing me to collaborate with you. We talk about complex and hairy stuff, don’t we? And we laugh and have great fun, don’t we?
I am grateful to continuously discover the unique capabilities of each individual I work with, so, in turn, we find a formula to catalyze innovation and create extraordinary business outcomes.
Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving!
Babette Ten Haken serves organizations as a corporate catalyst and innovative speaker, strategist, coach and storyteller. Babette’s One Millimeter Mindset™ Workshops and Speaking programs leverage collaboration to catalyze professional innovation, workforce engagement and customer retention, especially in challenging Industrial Internet of Things environments. Babette’s playbook of IIoT team collaboration hacks, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon. She is a member of SME, ASQ, SHRM and the National Speakers Association.
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