Professionalism

Surprisingly, personal skills and character strengths often determine an individual's success as a manager--even more so than technical skills. These personal and character strengths define "professionalism"--how you conduct yourself daily both in the workplace (and outside the workplace for that matter). The good news is that professionalism is one skill set that anyone can adopt.

During the term I will evaluate how well you exhibit professionalism. It will be based on my subjective assessment. Here are some representative behaviors that will help you obtain a good professionalism mark:

attending class
being on time for class
participating in class discussion
making sure that I know your name (for example, introducing yourself outside of class)
repeated attempts to improve work (persistence)
signing your work (e.g., initialing your memos)
contacting me ahead of time when you have problems/conflicts
doing more than what was asked
keeping your commitments
neat, organized work
showing initiative
dealing with disappointment like an adult
giving yourself enough time to complete projects

Want to pick up 0 professionalism points (yes, you could score 0% here)? Here's how you'll mark poorly for professionalism:

rarely attending class
when in class, appearing uninterested (clock watching, etc)
coming late, leaving early from class
showing no desire to improve
not keeping commitments (deadlines, etc)
dealing with issues at the 'last minute'
cell phone going off during class
sleeping in class
frequently talking with others during a lecture
sloppy work
working on other subjects during class
dealing with disappointment like a child

Hopefully you get the picture. If you want to advance as a manager, developing character traits of professionalism will take you far.