Redefining Professionalism: What It Really Means to Show Up

There’s a conversation happening in boardrooms, team meetings and LinkedIn comment sections that I find both fascinating and a little frustrating. It goes something like this: “Standards are slipping. People just aren’t as professional as they used to be.”

I’ve heard it from peers. I’ve seen it written in think-pieces. And I understand the instinct behind it. But I think it fundamentally misreads what’s actually happening - and in doing so, it risks making organisations less relevant, less human and less effective.

So let me offer a different frame.

What is professionalism, really?

At its core, professionalism has always been about one thing: demonstrating that you can be trusted to deliver. Trusted by clients. Trusted by colleagues. Trusted by the communities you operate in.

Everything else, from the suit, the firm handshake, the 9-to-5, the formal title to the way you address an email, these were never professionalism itself. They were the signals of professionalism that made sense at a particular moment in time, for a particular set of customers, in a particular social context.

When we conflate the signal with the thing itself, we make a category error. And that error leads us to defend the signals long after they’ve stopped communicating what we intended.

What has genuinely changed - and why

The world your organisation operates in today is not the world of 20 years ago. Several forces have fundamentally shifted what people expect from the businesses they work with and within.

The workforce has changed. Younger workers bring different but equally valid expectations around autonomy, authenticity and purpose. They’re not less committed - they’re differently committed and they want workplaces that reflect the values they hold in the rest of their lives.

‍The customer has changed. Across almost every sector, customers are increasingly drawn to brands and organisations that feel real. The polished, impersonal corporate veneer that once conveyed credibility can now read as distant or untrustworthy. Warmth, transparency and genuine responsiveness are increasingly what earns loyalty.

The nature of work has changed. Remote and hybrid work have blurred the boundaries between professional and personal in ways that are largely irreversible. Rigid formality, in many contexts, now creates friction rather than confidence.

Social norms have changed. Inclusion, psychological safety and belonging are no longer soft extras, they are business imperatives. A definition of professionalism that excludes or marginalises people based on how they look, speak, dress or live is not professional at all. It’s a liability.

What hasn’t changed

Here’s the thing: while the signals evolve, the substance endures.

Professionalism still requires showing up prepared. It still demands communicating clearly and honestly. It still calls for taking responsibility when things go wrong. It still involves respecting the people you’re working with - their time, their perspectives, their dignity.

These things aren’t generational. They’re not cultural. They’re the foundation. And in my experience, they’re just as valued - perhaps more valued - by the next generation of workers and customers than by those who came before them.

The bar hasn’t dropped. In some ways, it has risen.

The opportunity for leaders

So what does this signal for those of us responsible for shaping culture?

I think it calls for letting go of the idea that there’s a single, universal definition of professional that applies across every industry, every customer base and every team. There isn’t. There never was - we just pretended there was because it was convenient.

The real work of leadership is to understand what your people, your clients and your community truly value and to build a culture that demonstrates those values consistently and credibly.

That might look like formal attire and careful formality and for some organisations, in some contexts, that’s exactly right. It might look like a more relaxed, personality-led culture where people bring their full selves to work. Most likely, it sits somewhere in between and it will keep evolving.

The leaders I admire most aren’t the ones who’ve defined professionalism once and defended it forever. They’re the ones who keep asking: Does how we show up still reflect who we are and who we serve?

A call to other leaders

If you’re hearing the “standards are slipping” conversation in your own circles, I’d invite you to push back - gently, but clearly.

Ask what, specifically, has changed. Ask whether the concern is about genuine quality and care, or whether it’s about familiarity and comfort. Ask whose definition of professional is being applied and whether it reflects your organisation’s present or its past.

Then go and build something better. A culture of professionalism that’s responsive, inclusive and genuinely suited to the world you’re operating in now.

That, I’d argue, is the most professional thing a leader can do.

Peter Bowen is Managing Partner of deliberatepractice. This post reflects their personal views on leadership, culture and the evolving nature of work.

‍