What does it mean to behave like a ‘professional’ at work? When I was younger I was told that I had to behave like a ‘professional’ to get ahead at work, but I’m still not sure what that really means. I searched for the meaning of ‘professional’ online recently and came across an article by the ‘Monster Career Coach’. This guy told me that to be a ‘professional’, I had to be competent (good at what I do, with solid skills and knowledge). I also had to be reliable (meet deadlines and arrive on time). I needed to be honest (no lies) and have integrity, meaning I stick by my principles. The ‘monster’ also told me I had to be respectful to others, have a positive outlook, support others and be constantly improving. This all seems like solid advice – in fact I think you need to have all these qualities to be a good person, not just a ‘professional’. If you want to live a life of prosperity I strongly advise you to be competent, honest, reliable, respectful, positive and constantly improving. However the monster’s final piece of advice perplexed me. He said you should not let your private life ‘needlessly’ impact on your job. What exactly does that mean? You should forget that you have a family the moment you walk into work?
There is a big debate happening around the world right now as to whether people should keep their work and home life separate. This debate is probably prompted by two factors. More and more women work and they are often juggling childcare responsibilities. Second, the internet has changed the way people work. More and more of us can work from home.
It is a mistake to keep your work and home lives separate
The latest research suggests that it is a mistake to keep your work and home lives separate. In fact trying to keep work and home separate actually stresses people. Social scientists Brandon Smit and Carl Maertz studied 600 employees and published their findings in the Human Relations Journal. They found that making employees switch between work and home life roles causes people distress. I can understand that. I have female friends who tell me how upset they get when their child is sick and needs to be collected from school but they are meant to be at work. Their bosses aren’t always sympathetic and do not respect that sometimes they need to work from home. Smit and Maertz found that this kind of stress depletes energy and leads to poor work performance, but people who are allowed to combine work and home functions maintain higher levels of job performance.
“In the long run,” wrote Smith and Maertz “it may be better to allow employees' minds to wander and take occasional phone calls from home rather than set up policies that establish strict and inflexible boundaries.” An OECD study found that Denmark has the best work-life balance in the world and guess what? Denmark also scores highest for overall happiness in the world!
Work-life balance is the way of the future
I am all for integrating work and home life. This year I have been running ‘Passion to Profit’ seminars. I want people to think about a different work model. Life is too short to work nine to five in a job you hate. If you have the chance to turn a hobby or passion into a profit and work from home then as far as I am concerned you have hit the jackpot. I’ve read about Australian women who started businesses at home so they could be with their children and have made a fortune. Kirsty Chapman-Smith started an online party supply shop. She got the idea while trying to organise her son’s birthday party. She couldn’t find the party supplies she wanted in Australia, so turned to the US. She now imports party supplies in bulk from America and sells them on eBay and her website, discountpartysupplies.com.au.
"Really, I was just a stay-at-home mother trying to keep busy,” she said. This year the business will turn over $800,000, which gives her around $250,000 in income. Kristy said what's really important to her is that she's able to run her business around her family – “and still make lots of money!” Kirsty never tried to separate her business from her family. She successfully combined them and that is the way of the future.
Two other Aussie mums, Kate Cotton and Louise Ferguson, founded Skinny Tan while on maternity leave. They now sell their tanning lotion around the world and are the biggest selling tanning brand in the UK.
People all around the world are combining their work-home life
People all around the world are combining their work-home life. In the US, Jane Park gave up her Starbucks job after having her son. She decided to make her hobby, make-up and nail polish, her job. As a stay-at-home mum she needed a creative outlet, some stimulation. "I actually surprised myself,” she told The Huffington Post. “I expected to care less about my work after having children, not more. But the opposite happened. I suddenly found an incredible internal drive to learn, grow and create." That business ended up being Julep, an e-commerce powerhouse that now has more than 300 non-toxic nail polishes and other beauty products. She even named a nail polish after her son, Yumi. Another American mum, Jessica Herrin turned her weekend hobby of designing jewellery into a business the same year she had her first baby. She had already established another online business. She cofounded the WeddingChannel.com when she was 24. Jessica’s online jewellery business, Stella & Dot, has now attracted some $37 million from investors.
In the UK, Jessica Novels, used her maternity leave to set up baby-food cookery school, Meals for Squeals. “While I was weaning my twins, who are now nearly two, my background in cookery meant lots of friends asked me for advice on recipes or to make some food for their children,” says Jackie, 37. “Meals for Squeals was launched and I never looked back. I teach groups of up to six parents at a time, with classes organised according to the age of the children and the stage of weaning they are at. I also run cookery parties in people's homes and run evening classes at local secondary schools, and run an after school cookery club for primary age children.”
The idea that bringing your family to work is unprofessional is out-dated
The idea that bringing your family to work is unprofessional is now out-dated. People are working in new ways and good bosses want their employees to have a happy home life and be able to attend to their families’ needs. So many people are now working from home, and not just the owners of online companies. Progressive companies let their employees work from home a couple of days a week. I work from home. I prepare the content for my seminars at home in Queensland. It’s great, I love it. I’m glad that the times are changing. This notion that when you step into the office you have to forget about your family is obsolete and any boss that tries to enforce it is a dinosaur!
ABOUT PAT MESITI
Pat Mesiti is a best-selling author, coach and educator in the area of personal development. Having built some of Australia’s largest people-driven organisations, Pat understands the power of harnessing human potential. He has shared the stage with some of the world’s great business minds and has sold over millions of copies of his books and materials.