The true meaning of professionalism

Management consulting is sometimes – and I think erroneously – described as a profession.

Most definitions of a profession are based on there being (a) a single and codified body of specialist knowledge in which a professional is trained and (b) a body which is responsible for ensuring that that knowledge, and whatever ethics accompany it, are adhered to. It’s hard to argue that’s the case with consulting. The sheer variety of consulting work, together with the youth of the consulting industry when compared to the legal or medical professions, means that there is neither a single body of knowledge to refer to nor a standard qualification. Indeed, given that so much of the value created by consultants comes from tailoring ideas to the unique needs of a specific organisation and that clients bitterly resent the much-derided “cookie-cutter” approach, it’s hard to imagine that that could ever change.

But the fact that consulting isn’t a profession doesn’t mean that professionalism isn’t core to how we behave as consultants. There are three aspects of this I’d like to highlight here.

The first is that most definitions of profession and professionalism highlight the extent to which the professional, be that a doctor or a priest, work for others’ benefit, not their own, as Wikipedia highlights (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profession): “A profession is a vocation founded upon specialised educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain.” You could argue that law firms, consulting firms and private hospitals all fall outside this definition because they’re run on a commercial basis, but this would ignore the fact that, in all cases, their long-term success depends on putting their clients first.

The second is about style. Business Dictionary defines professionalism as the “meticulous adherence to undeviating courtesy, honesty, and responsibility in one's dealings with customers and associates, plus a level of excellence that goes over and above the commercial considerations and legal requirements”. A definition which I think describes beautifully and precisely how a consultant should behave. As consultants, I’m sure we’ve all encountered situations where our client is panicking and everything appears to be going wrong, and our role is to remain cool-headed.

The third – and it’s this that prompted me to write this – came out of a conversation this week: “Professionalism means doing your best work when you least feel like it.” I’m sure that resonates with most consultants: you travel, you deal with stressful situations at work, handle domestic crises, get little sleep and live off sandwiches – and yet you still have to deliver.