Professionalism

Professionalism helps others relate to your ideas. To raise funds, engage different people/customers/clients, and develop partnerships, your ideas must gain traction with a broader audience. You need people to be receptive to you. To ensure maximum receptivity, productive creative professionals are flexible with how they present their work.

Professionalism is about much more than manners. It is about the expectations you set, the standards you maintain, and how you make decisions and manage conflict.

Professionalism becomes difficult in work fueled by passion because passion is an emotion. Emotion generates energy, but it also impairs judgment.

Ultimately, professionalism is evaluated under extreme circumstances that test one’s patience, flexibility, receptivity, and tolerance. As your ideas gain traction with a broader audience, be prepared for repeated questions and unanticipated demands.  Without compromising your passion and integrity, professionalism will enable you to be respected, better understood,  develop partnerships, and raise funds to further your work.