Leadership and Professionalism
Thank you, Raul Pacheco, for tweeting the link to What Does the Professional Look Like Today by Allison Fine. It was one of those great articles that underscored how profoundly the professional landscape is changing. The attributes of the new professional Fine draws are also those of a transformational leader, who uses inspiration and vision and bring ‘self’ into the workplace.
Kadushin says that leaders often have a slightly higher status than their followers, but not greatly so, because people want their leaders to be only a little better than themselves (Understanding Social Networks, p. 145). In our networks, I wonder if we don’t want our leaders and new professionals to be the best of ourselves, including being generous with their knowledge, open to the input of others and acknowledging their need to be connected in order to be effective.
Filed under: Comm506 Course Musings, Uncategorized | 2 Comments
Tags: professionalism, status, transformational leadership
judithdyck 
This really resonated for me, especially your comment about what we expect from our leaders. I certainly feel that is true for me. As I continually seek to become more informed and to increase my skill set, I expect the same of colleagues in other areas of the organization, as well as leaders. I see the frustration I feel, reflected on the face of co-workers when department heads fail to make an effort to keep up with technology or to keep themselves informed about changes in the industry. Loved the chart.
Judith,
the chart on old professionals Vs new professionals called my attention and make me think in what side I am. For example, today I received an email from my former supervisor who asked me to offer one day of training to a new employee. If I would have the old professional school, surely I would say no. However, I consider that my knowledge doesn’t stop at me, it needs to be passed to other people. I am able to transfer value to other person, because that person may transfer her/his value to other people. As you said “I am open and accessible to the world”