Your Best Vibe is Drama- free: Why True Professionals Skip the Gossip and Get to Work

Professional... you wanna know what it means to be professional? Has nothing to do with what I wear, how my hair's slicked back... what we know now is someone can have 'the professional look,' but are you really a professional?" You’ve got your fancy titles and degrees right? so you’re a professional? WRONG! Have you seen this in your 9-5? Those who present as polished and they have the title and all those credentials... but what we are talking about is that we really need the inside to match too. Hear me out, I know this is something a tad bit controversial, for years the look and feel of what it’s meant to be both a professional and the act of professionalism” has been the same, some uptight person in a suit and their computer job. Hey no judgement I am after all what they consider to be one of “ the cubicle girls.” But recently, I found myself sensitive to all the bafoonery that takes place on a day-to day. Those who constantly screech “ that’s not professional” are likely to be the ones who themselves aren’t professional. So then, I look around to see who they think is “ unprofessional” and I giggle internally, because seriously, someone’s shoes makes them unprofessional? their jeans? Imagine this… They showed up today.. did we think of that? Now, don’t confuse what I’m saying here. The act of simply showing up is not at all what I mean. AND to an extent appearance is important when we assess professionalism. But to be dressed to the nine, does not ensure that the person is professional. True professionalism is an internal commitment to integrity and action. Your best professional vibe is the one that refuses to waste energy on performative behavior or negativity.

Let’s dive deeper and let’s chat about the drain of the misery cluster. I’ll often see clusters where people like it—the gossip, the negative attitudes, the misery... talking shit but often doing nothing to improve whatever that issue is so they stay—almost like a sunken place that looks really hard to get out of, and I can see why because in this case, often they find others who are also there in the sunken, and there they stay. Things like, “ can you believe,” to which the enabler says “ yea I just can’t.”— or some iteration of it. Then we’ve got the The anti-professional act, where the "look" is an energy sink because it diverts focus from productive work to low-value drama. I declare my creative wellness, using my refusal to gossip as an act of self-preservation. my creative, authentic energy is too valuable to be spent creating misery. The true professional is focused on creating solutions. Then we have the constant pressures to justify oneself. I know that for self, I have nothing to prove, and I think people don’t like that. They view it as unprofessional that you didn’t bend over backwards, and catch a Charlie horse for the job. I must say, my confidence and pattern-spotting realism (my true self) can be uncomfy for others because they can't control it. My self-assurance is the highest mark of professionalism. And while i am confident, I am always learning and welcome feedback as a way to grow! Nothing wrong with this! Be careful of people who always agree. No, I want feedback... I think people gravitate toward other who will enable their toxicity. A true professional seeks honest, constructive feedback to improve the work, while the performer seeks validation to maintain the look.

Your choice to prioritize reality and action over the look is your superpower— stand on it! Before you can walk into your 9-to-5 and confidently maintain your drama-free vibe and skip the gossip, you need to be deeply connected to your true voice. What's one toxic "professional" habit—like gossip or enabling—are you ditching this week to upgrade your vibe? Tell us how you get to work!