On professionalism

This post is thanks to Thilak. I have always admired his style of working - sincere effort combined with hard work and efficiency with a dash of impersonal honesty about who he is and what he can do.

My own first job was a bit complicated. I could not distinguish between personal and professional life. I had high expectations from people (where I should have been expecting none) and turned to friends for help (when I could have done it very well on my own with self respect and dignity).
Now, when I think about it, I sometimes shudder and know I will not go back to being who I was. When I joined my new job in Japan, I wanted to 'give it all' like Thilak but also not expect too much from it. If I had heard this bit of advice 4 years ago, it would have helped me a lot!

This is what he said to me when I talked of doing my best and how I hoped to impress my boss -

" True professionalism from them is getting the job done by you and not caring anything else about you. Anyone in any part of the world can take advantage of you if you let them to. Do what they ask you to do but know when to take command of the situation. If you have a problem with something that you know to be true, talk about it with your boss even if you feel afraid.You must be ready to leave the job even if it is tomorrow. For one, it means you are unattached to the job and two - you are not afraid to do the right thing thinking of how it will affect your long term plans with your job."

I am writing down these words here - so that I will remember them for a long time to come.