Corporate culture varies. In some environments every T must be crossed and every I must be dotted, both grammatically and bureaucratically. In itself, this is an important system to study, understand, and utilize. As a general philosophy, professionalism is a valuable tool, but so is unprofessionalism.
Success is heavily dependent on networking and the personal relationships with the people you work and connect with. As much as you might think these relationships are all about the professional world, it’s still a human connection, and humans respond to personality. Sometimes it’s better to be a little less formal in order to cinch that personal connection closer.
Maybe unprofessionalism isn’t the right word. Maybe it should be non-professionalism. But I think you get the point. Sometimes a stupid smiley face or exclamation point in an email, or a chat about something other than work, which are usually considered unprofessional, can go a long way to growing a personal connection within a professional channel.
By all means, use at your own risk. But I have seen many connections that could benefit from this kind of philosophy, and I would wager that a few of your connections could benefit as well. As with any tool, make sure you know how to use it and what the risks are before you start using it.
2 Comments
1 andrew wrote:
People relate to other people more than they do to brands. People buy from who they like. And people who like coworkers who make them laugh at happy hour. It’s hard to be liked when you’re busy being too PC. People like authentic. This isn’t just valuable advice for careers, it’s valuable advice for living. Nice post. Nice blog. You’ve got a new subscriber.
2 EF wrote:
Thanks, Andrew! We are obviously of the same mind when it comes to this approach. I like the connection between an approach to living and an approach to career. I think there are a lot of valuable similarities there.
Glad to have you on board.