Get a Haircut! - Technical Professionalism vs. The Spirit of Professionalism

Man, I need a haircut.

I struggle with this all the time. The problem is, when I lived in New Orleans, I had a friend who was one of the top hair stylists in the city. He cut and styled my hair for free. When you get an $80 haircut for free, it is hard to start paying for them.

My solution in my younger days was to vacillate between a shaved head and long hair. Long hair can be pulled back into a pony tail for more formal occasions and a shaved head was no muss, no fuss.

The problem was that neither extreme was particularly professional looking. In fact, during my senior year at LSU, a professor called one of my friends in the class aside to let him know about a job opportunity. I followed up with the professor to ask why she did not mention the opportunity to me, seeing as I had the highest grade in the class. Her response was that she did not think I was looking for work, given my long hair and goatee. She apologized and passed along the information, so yay for me following up.

Still, the point was clear. The message I sent by having long hair and a goatee was that I was not looking for professional employment. As George Thoroughgood sings, "get a haircut and get a real job." Right or wrong, people look for external clues to cue them to the motivations and desires of others.

My daughter was at her Kyuki-do class (martial arts) and somehow the question came up about what a "bad guy" looks like. All of the students identified "bad guys" as having tattoos and wearing black leather. It made me laugh to see the simplicity of their understanding of "good" and "bad" based on outward appearance.

Conversely, I was watching the John Waters film Cry Baby with my daughter (I can almost hear gasps), in which the "Drapes" are bikers and societal outcasts who are at odds with the "Squares" who exemplify the professional appearance. Despite the stereotypically "evil" dress of the "Drapes," they are the heroes of the movie and demonstrate kindness and acceptance of others (similar to Jesus and his acceptance of tax collectors and prostitutes). I took the opportunity to explain to my daughter that regardless of their outward appearances, the "Drapes" were the good guys, and the "Squares" demonstrated intolerance and acted violently towards others.

I would like to draw an analogy between behavior in the film Cry Baby and professionalism. In this analogy, the "Squares" represent technical professionalism. Their outward cues give the appearance that they are "good" people. Contrary-wise the "Drapes" may appear to lack professionalism, but they demonstrate that they are actually "good people" in their kindness towards others. The "Drapes" personify the spirit of professionalism in this analogy.

Despite being trite, the adage holds true; you cannot judge a book by its cover. Yet, I concede that there is no value in designing book covers that do not attract buyers.

And again, here I am, needing a haircut, mostly for fear that people will see hair that touches my collar and presume I am not a professional. They may disregard the Human Resource Certification Institute's (which did not bother checking my hair or dress in obtaining this certification)assertion that I am a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources. They may disregard the recommendations on my LinkedIn profile that indicate my work is thorough and effective. My outward appearance may be sufficient for them to determine that I am not the right "fit" for the company, and honestly, I think there is peril in that approach.

Do a search for job interview tips. I guarantee that each post will include a reference to appropriate dress for the interview. Any individual can read one of these posts and dress accordingly. Regardless of people's actual work ethic, knowledge, skills, and abilities, they can fit the bill for Technical Professionalism. They can learn to walk like a duck and quack like a duck, regardless of whether or not they are actually a duck (duck = professional).

What they cannot replicate is the Spirit of a Professional. One cannot fake a history of working hard and delivering a good product. These are the areas employers should use as a basis for hiring, not whether the applicant has too many earrings or too many tattoos. The Spirit of Professionalism is based on ethics, integrity, hard-work, and a desire to do the best job possible.

Any old fool can get a conservative hair-cut, put on a suit and tie, and shave to make a good first impression, but is that really what companies need? I assert that companies need individuals who have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the job well, and the Spirit of Professionalism to do the job thoroughly and to the best of their ability. I suggest that if appearance should be balanced against performance and that performance should be heavily weighted.

The point is, I fully understand that an unkempt appearance provides clues about an individual's behaviors. I would not encourage anyone to show up to a job interview wearing the clothes from last-night and skipping a shower. The Spirit of Professionalism prohibits it. I just wish that my hair could be long, so I wouldn't have to pay for haircuts so frequently!