Beyond Professionalism

 

I have created the “Beyond Professionalism” series to pull together a wide span of topics, all of which constitute my thoughts on how to go about being a successful professional in today’s working world. 

The title is deliberately provocative, suggesting that there exists a space beyond professionalism, towards which we would be better placed in aligning ourselves. 

Part of this is the acknowledgement that for many of us, our work lives bleed ever more into our personal ones, with new remote and hybrid working models blurring the lines between work and play. It is also about acknowledging the value of bringing more than just our “professional” selves into the workplace, our creativity, playfulness and personality often being the starring characteristics of today’s top talent. And I believe this is a good thing. I think we are now finally seeing a shift away from the outdated, unrealistic ideal of “work-life balance” and shifting into a more refined, realistic and fulfilling one of “work-life integration”. 

No longer must we view work as a means to a financial end – but as a means to fulfilment, purpose and meaning in life. After all, we spend most of our time on this planet working in some form or another. It’s time to start realising the value of this for ourselves as individuals as well as for society at large. We are people first, professionals second. 

Let’s leverage what it means to be human to deliver the greatest possible impact on this world.

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