How to Be a Professional?How to Be a Professional?

Dr K P MohandasProfessor, Electrical Engineering

Who is a professional?Who is a professional?

Professionals and amateurs in sportsProfessionals and amateurs in sportsProfession and occupation Profession is an occupation requiring special education Occupation is the principal activity in your life that you do to earn moneyProfessionals are :h h d di d f ithose who are dedicated to a profession e.g.

doctors, engineers, lawyers,managers etcHow they are different from nonprofessionals?they can practice their profession as they are they can practice their profession as they are trained for practicing the profession, even without an institutional helpA formal registration is necessary (e g IMC)A formal registration is necessary (e.g. IMC)

Behaviour of ProfessionalsBehaviour of Professionals

I.Honesty and integrity

B h t d h bl i th Be honest and honourable in the deedsH ill b th i lt f Honour will be the prime result of your deedsWh i b i i ?What is meant by integrity?

an unreduced or completeness or totality OR moral soundness in the behaviour

II.Responsibility and accountability

A professional is responsible for his actionsA professional is responsible for his actionsHe should be glad to take up responsibilityirrespective of the outcomeirrespective of the outcomeHe should be accountable to:the institution to which he / she isthe institution to which he / she is

attached to the public at large to the public at large to himself or his conscience

III.Respect

R t th if t th t Respect others if you want others to respect youR t th t i l b d Respect others not simply based on their position or power onlyM b d h i bili d More based on their ability and behaviourRespect your elders even if they are lower in your professional cadre

IV.Try to achieve Excellence andbe scholastic in attitude

Try to reach higher levels of competence in our effortscompetence in our effortsPerfection is the mottoTry to become a scholar in things that Try to become a scholar in things that you do by learning more and moreTh k l d h ld b d t The knowledge should be second to none

V. Leadership“Lead Follow or Get out of the way”Lead, Follow or Get out of the wayLeaders are not born, they become leaders by constant effortsEasier to follow than leadBut you will enjoy being a leader rather than be a followerthan be a followerAt least, don’t be, “neither a leader nor a follower”you will be a nuisance to society if you are neither

VI.Altruism or selflessness means

the quality of unselfish concern for the q ywelfare of others acting with less concern for yourself than for the success of the joint jactivityImagine a world where people give of themselves simply because they want themselves simply because they want to. Not out of a sense of debt.not because they want something in return return. "No ulterior motives. No guilt feelings. Just a desire to give for the sake of givinggiving

Altruism ( continued)

i d f imagining hiNow instead of imagining this kind of world, do your part in

happenmaking it happen.Volunteer your time to improve your community. Give back to the world that community. Give back to the world that gives so much to you. And if it happens to make you feel good, that's all right. Feeling good is the one ulterior motive Feeling good is the one ulterior motive that's acceptable." (From a Quotation by Bill Daniels)

VII.Caring Compassion and Communication

Three C’s Three C s

Caring for othersCaring for others

C i f thCompassion for others

C i t i d Communicate your compassion and care in a suitable way

Code of ethics of a typical professional society, IEEE

I i l bli i f i iIn accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the communities we serve, we do hereby commit ourselves to theourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct

Responsibility for decisionsy

l k1 .to accept responsibility in making engineering decisions consistent with the safety, health f yand welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger thepromptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment;

AAvoid Conflicts of interest

id l i d fli f i h2.to avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties when they d xi t;do exist;

No tall or exaggerated claims, please

h l3.to be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data

Reject Bribery in any formReject Bribery in any form

4.to reject bribery in all its forms;f hmonitory gifts or other means

Improve technical competence

d d f h lto improve your understanding of technology, its appropriate application, and potential pp p pp pconsequences

AAccept criticism and correct errors

7. to seek, accept, and offer honest criticismf h l k k l d dof technical work, to acknowledge and

correct errors, and to credit properly the p p ycontributions of others;

Love for others irrespective of ..

f l ll l f8.to treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, f , g , g ,disability, age, nationality of origin;

Inflicting pain, physical or mental hon others

9 to avoid injuring others, theirj gproperty, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action;

Help those who need it

ll10. to assist colleagues and co-workers in their professionalworkers in their professional development and to supportp ppthem in following thiscode of ethics