When flying around Limestone County, I’ve always noticed how professional people can be. When I say that, I really mean how confident and reliable they are. Take first responders. I’ve witnessed from a treetop as firemen coolly but determinedly administered the “jaws of life,” trying to pull a victim from a smashed vehicle. On another occasion, during the great tornadoes of 2011, when hundreds died across Alabama, one particular comment caught my attention. A team of men with giant buzz-saws cut a family free from entrapment when a gigantic tree fell upon their house, locking them in a dark, terrifying room. When the reporter discovered they’d come all the way from Texas, she asked why. The woodcutters answered, “We came to get it done!” Professionalism.

Professionalism takes many forms. It can come in a fine, remarked-upon finished product, a well-crafted presentation, or a satisfied customer. Or it can be funny, but make the case for professionalism nonetheless. Robin Williams was a master comedian and a professional.

A cynical business practice happened years ago in one company. Management directed that all employees write out, step-by-step, how they complete each task they perform every day. At first most marveled at this little thought-through requirement. It was as if every job was as simple to define as a burger joint’s job. Then it was leaked that the purpose was to assemble the “processes,” and hire lower paid interns to do the work. Longer-term employees were to be let go. One bright spark responded to the “directive” this way. “I receive the tasking. I read it. Then I apply 27 years of experience to determining the proper way forward. Then I provide the solution.” This response was not appreciated by those who dreamed the scheme up. Fortunately, this cynical ploy died at birth.

When major corporations and government agencies begin to treat their professionals as if they were on an assembly line, there is a problem. Professionalism suffers. If I feel management thinks of me as a type of robot, I might begin to believe they don’t really care about me as a person. They don’t care about my professionalism. If you think of your employees as cogs in a wheel, not folks who have dedicated their lives to bettering themselves and the company, trust itself will break down. If dedication to a product or service are lacking, look first to how management treats its employees. Are management practices fair or only worried about the bottom line? This set of circumstances is where unions are born, by the way. Unions try to right such wrongs done to employees.

Any job done well has worth, because of the dignity of all involved. Waiting tables is normally how many people break into the world of work. Go to any restaurant, and they are there. Waiters are cleaning, taking orders, talking to customers. I’ve watched from windows (Few Owls are allowed in restaurants, FDA rules you know.) and have seen how staff interacts with customers. That’s where the beginning of professionalism comes in. Here they learn about dealing with the “public” in its endless varieties, attending to details, anticipating concerns, and how to get more with honey than a barbed, sarcastic word. And patience. And listening. All of these qualities develop professionalism. Yes, even in canned, assembly line “fast food joints” you can develop professionalism. How many characteristics developed in their early jobs later served lawyers at the Supreme Court or doctors at cancer clinics? All these skills come from somewhere.

One long-time factory worker told this tale. In his last year at work, he got “Fridays off.” What happened was that on Fridays he let his “shadow,” a new employee who daily observed and later would replace him, do the whole job while he supervised. For an entire year, the new man was not judged while he learned to handle the work professionally. In another country, they do this. The assistant teacher at a given school has the entire class to himself on Friday. Thus, during the last year of a professional’s employment, their skills, abilities, and practical understanding are shared. They can begin to move into retirement knowing their position, for which they studied, went to continuing education for, and contributed so much to, is well provided for. Ingenious.