“Professionalism is a skill that must be practiced to be mastered; it does not need to be explained to yourself or others – it just is.”

It’s natural not to be understood all time, and it’s natural for you to not understand others all time. When you set yourself up to understand everything that’s said or done to you, most of time you will be disappointed. There isn’t any way you can accurately predict and interpret another person’s words, feelings and emotions, or their deepest thoughts, simply because no two people think alike.

Learn to overlook some things that you don’t fully understand. For instance, when you interact with someone whose attitude or behavior is irritating to you, learn to ignore behavior. If action toward you is not harmful, then ignore it. Then you won’t become a victim of unpleasant behavior. Or, if you choose to, and can handle conflict, you can seek an explanation from person whose behavior is distasteful to you.

Also, you can test your professionalism when placed in an unpleasant or an offensive situation by either walking away or, quietly commanding yourself to smile. This deflects hurt, and erases need to feel that you’ve been treated unfairly. This is a good test to practice and master.

In many business transactions, there may be times when you won’t approve of a customer’s behavior or language. Most of time, rude behavior has nothing to do with you. So, you can disregard it. Otherwise, you’ll see your emotional strings getting pulled every time.

Observe your own behavior as you interact with others. Make certain you are not guilty of any of unprofessional habits listed below:

* ARGUING – Disagreeing, quarrelling, or being in conflict with another. Arguments begin when there is a misunderstanding. Whenever your words or actions cause another to experience feelings of embarrassment or humiliation, or when you participate in an argument that leads to other person being treated unfairly, you are acting in an unprofessional manner.

Arguments are not normal behaviors. They are self-defeating attitudes that may elevate your blood pressure and your stress level. Arguments tend to upset both participants. Instead of arguing, try to help and/or support other person’s view. Agree to disagree – you keep your opinion, and let other person keep theirs.

But early in my career, I was convinced there were right ways and wrong ways to do things at work. Of course, my way being right and someone else's wrong. Dug-in positions that at time seemed immensely important strike me now as limited in knowledge, understanding or perspective.

Now, I'm as convinced there are often many ways to accomplish same goal and many right answers to same problem. Certainly some approaches may be better than others, but whose interpretation defines better? It is a subjective workplace and a matter of judgment if an idea is a good one, a performance rating accurate, or a decision correct. Sometimes that interpretation is based on quarterly profits, employee morale, company goals, personal filters, necessity, or a passionate champion embracing a challenge.