We view professionals as white collar specialists, a doctor, a lawyer, someone with a name plate on their desk that matches the diploma on the wall—an exclusive “member’s only” club, reserved for those with the credentials or technical expertise that come with owning a briefcase. It’s this conventional wisdom that actually prevents employees from realizing their own professional identity.
This identity struggle locks many workers out of their own potential professional identity, implying that they haven’t earned it, that they don’t deserve the title, and over time entrenches itself into our organizational cultures, resulting in poor performance and an alienated work force.
By refusing a professional identity to our employees, we’re actually fueling their
undesired behavior and hindering our long term goals, but when workers are given access, when they’re empowered with a professional identity, that behavior can be mitigated and our outcomes improve.