It’s time we call out the great Indian misunderstanding, one that pervades boardrooms and cubicles alike, and one that continues to dilute the very fabric of professional excellence in our country. Through this column I don’t intend to generalise, but it is important to address the majority who are falling behind in this essential skill set. Critique is essential for all positive transformation.

In India, the term ‘professional’ has been rendered almost meaningless. We’ve reduced it to a vague badge that simply denotes employment. Anyone with a job, a visiting card and a lanyard around their neck is casually labelled a professional. Whether they exhibit any real traits of professionalism is beside the point. And that’s where the rot begins.

Let me say this bluntly: employment does not equal professionalism. A salary credit to your bank account doesn’t automatically certify you as a professional. What we’re witnessing in Indian workplaces today is a mass-scale confusion between ‘being employed’ and ‘being professional’. The two are not synonyms, and we must stop treating them as such.

The epidemic of ‘surface-level credibility’

I have sat in meetings where even CEOs parrot jargon with no understanding of the underlying concepts. I have mentored many senior and mid-level managers who have no conception of integrity but take pride in manipulating internal processes to their advantage. I have observed fresh management graduates from Tier-1 institutions who can create a pitch deck in ten minutes flat but cannot write a grammatically correct email or a simple congruent message to their colleagues and reporting managers. These are not anomalies. These are patterns.

A thin layer of surface-level credibility, a fashionable costume to work, an Instagram account and a LinkedIn profile, these have become the de facto markers of professionalism. Skills? Substance Sincerity? Self-awareness? Nowhere to be found. What we have created is a corporate ecosystem that rewards pretension, mediocrity and punishes competence, integrity and professionalism. That’s not just unfortunate; it’s dangerous.

The root of misdefinition

This confusion didn’t emerge overnight. It’s embedded in our copycat-culture and subsequent social context. In India, for last few generations, a government or corporate job has been seen as the pinnacle of success, not because of what one does in the role, but because of the job’s perceived stability and prestige. In many families, a secure job trumps all considerations of passion, skill, or contribution. The mere fact that one is “settled” in a job is seen as professional success.

Our education system has also played a big part. It produces degree holders, not skilled professionals. Rote learning is mistaken for knowledge. Marks are mistaken for intelligence. And as these individuals flow into the workforce, the illusion of professionalism continues. because no one ever taught them what it truly means to be a professional.

Add to this the colonial hangover of hierarchy worship, where titles matter more than competence and you adopt a culture that tolerates inefficiency, celebrates mediocrity, and rarely questions authority. That’s how we arrived here, where employment is confused for professionalism, and authority for expertise.

WHAT IS ‘NOT’

PROFESSIONALISM

What is professionalism? More importantly, what is it NOT? Below are some real observations across public, private sectors, MNCs, and startups alike.

1. Equating hierarchy with entitlement

Behaviour: Expecting special treatment due to title, demanding respect without earning it, or using authority to bypass norms. Why it’s unprofessional: It undermines meritocracy and fosters toxic power dynamics.

2. Mixing personal bias with professional decisions

Behaviour: Favouritism in hiring, promotions, or task allocations based on regional, linguistic, or caste lines. Why it’s unprofessional: It leads to workplace inequity and undermines team cohesion.

3. Lack of respect for time

Behaviour: Regular delays in meetings, late arrivals at work, or ‘Indian Standard Time’ mentality. Why it’s unprofessional: It disrespects others’ time and disrupts team productivity.

4. Avoiding difficult conversations

Behaviour: Saying ‘yes’ to everything out of politeness or fear, not raising red flags, or sugarcoating bad news. Why it’s unprofessional: It delays problem-solving and contributes to dysfunctional teams.

5. Excessive deference to authority

Behaviour: Avoiding disagreement or healthy debate with seniors, especially when they’re wrong. Why it’s unprofessional: It stifles innovation and accountability and promotes mediocrity.

6. Workplace politics

Behaviour: Engaging in corridor politics, forming groups, promoting sycophants or leaking confidential information for influence. Why it’s unprofessional: It creates distrust, silos, toxic culture and kills all professionalism.

7. Misuse of work resources

Behaviour: Using office internet for personal use during work hours, inflating expense bills, or using staff for personal errands. Wasting organizational resources. Why it’s unprofessional: It shows ethical compromise and lack of respect for organizational resources.

8. Lack of meeting

discipline

Behaviour: Interrupting others, coming unprepared, hijacking and dominating discussions, or dragging meetings endlessly. Why it’s unprofessional: It reflects lack of leadership, poor planning and weak collaborative skills.

9. Bypassing feedback loops

Behaviour: Taking decisions without consulting key stakeholders, avoiding performance feedback, or not giving constructive input. Why it’s unprofessional: It hinders growth and creates communication gaps. Stalls performance measurement.

10. Overdependence on ‘Jugaad’ (quick fixes)

Behaviour: Prioritising shortcuts over systems, fire-fighting over process-building. Preferring chaos over clarity. Why it’s unprofessional: It undermines transparency, standards, long-term efficiency and sets poor precedents.

11. Poor email and digital etiquette

Behaviour: Sending vague or incomplete emails, ignoring messages, late responses, using casual language with colleagues and seniors, or flooding WhatsApp groups with irrelevant content. Why it’s unprofessional: It shows lack of effective communication, role clarity, respect, and awareness of formal communication norms in all physical, hybrid or remote work cultures.

12. Resistance to process and documentation

Behaviour: Preferring verbal instructions over formal communication, documentation, neglecting SOPs, or treating paperwork as a burden. Why it’s unprofessional: It causes ambiguity, weakens institutional memory, and increases risk in compliance-heavy environments.

WHAT IS

PROFESSIONALISM?

Professionalism is a mindset. It is a daily discipline. It is an ethical standard. It’s not just how you look or what you do, it’s how you do it, and why.

Integrity is not optional

One of the biggest casualties of our misdefinition of professionalism is integrity. In the rush to ‘appear competent’, many forget the foundational necessity of trust. Professionalism without integrity is just performance. And performance without conscience is a guaranteed recipe for disaster.

When someone manipulates data to impress a client, when someone hides information to avoid accountability, when someone nods in agreement in meetings only to sabotage later, that’s not a clever strategy. That’s cowardice dressed in corporate garb. And yet, our most of our HR systems, appraisal metrics, and office cultures often enable these behaviours in the name of ‘delivery’.

It’s time to stop tolerating this deviant conduct and normalise it. Let’s stop promoting people just because they can play the system. Let’s start recognizing those who stand for professional integrity.

The soft-skill fallacy

There’s another great irony in Indian workplaces, we speak of ‘soft skills’ as if they’re add-ons, desirable but dispensable. The truth is, they are the core skills. Communication, empathy, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, critical thinking, these are not ‘nice-to-haves’. They are the bedrock of professional competence. Let me put it plainly, if you can’t communicate clearly, listen actively, or handle conflict with maturity, you are not yet a professional. No matter what your designation says.

The cost of misdefinition

The impact of this confusion is not academic. It is felt every day in real businesses.

u Projects fail not due to lack of funds, but due to lack of professional alignment.

uTeams disintegrate not due to market pressure, but due to internal politics.

u Young employees leave not due to ambition, but due to toxic leadership masked as ‘high performance culture’.

We are losing value, time, and talent because we have mistaken mismanagement for professionalism, visibility for competence, and obedience for leadership.

CEOs, you are not off the hook

Professionalism or the lack of it is not a bottom-up issue. In fact, it festers from the top. Many CXOs in India model unprofessional behaviours under the guise of decisiveness, urgency, or ‘pragmatism’.

I have witnessed CEOs who micromanage to the point of madness, who publicly shame subordinates in meetings, quite uncouth in their conduct, many who operate without a vision but with abundant aggression. These individuals are not just failing their organizations; they are setting a cultural tone that cascades down to everyone across the organization.

If you’re a leader, understand that you don’t just create business outcomes; you create culture. And that culture determines whether professionalism will flourish or perish under your leadership.

WHO ARE TRUE

PROFESSIONALS?

Let’s now shift from critique to construction. If we are to redefine and reassert what it means to be a professional in India, we need a framework. Based on my decades of experience across industries and leadership contexts as an organizational strategist here’s what I believe true professionals must embody:

1. Reliability and

consistency

Behaviour: Following through on promises, meeting deadlines, and delivering high-quality work without repeated reminders. Why it matters: Being dependable earns trust and solidifies your professional reputation. It leads to reliability and builds expectation.

2. Effective and respectful communication

Behaviour: Listening actively, expressing clearly, asking the right questions, and adapting tone and style to the context. Less overlapping, avoiding overt emotions into professional communication, not indulging in stalling and filling the blanks when others speak. Why it matters: Strong communication prevents misunderstandings and builds cohesive, high-functioning teams. It establishes empathy & leads to effective human transactions.

3. Accountability and

ownership

Behaviour: Taking full responsibility for your tasks and outcomes, both success and failure, without blaming others. Why it matters: Accountability is the backbone of performance and leadership credibility.

4. Ethical integrity

Behaviour: Acting honestly, transparently, and in line with both company values and general ethical standards. Avoiding lies, deceit and manipulation. Why it matters: Integrity builds long-term respect, especially in high-trust roles or client-facing environments. I builds personal and institutional credibility.

5. Adaptability and flexibility

Behaviour: Embracing change, shifting priorities smoothly, and remaining calm under pressure or uncertainty. Being open minded, receptive to change and embracing diverse views. Why it matters: Agility is critical in fast-moving corporate settings, especially startups and tech-driven sectors. Leads to harmonious workplaces & aids in culture building. 7

6. Team orientation and collaboration

Behaviour: Valuing diverse perspectives, contributing without ego, and sharing credit. Avoiding pettiness, unhealthy competition and turf wars. Why it matters: No major initiative succeeds in isolation and in silos, collaboration multiplies impact. Lack of team orientation, highlights lack of leadership.

7. Proactive problem-solving

Behaviour: Identifying issues early, suggesting solutions, and taking initiative before being asked. Why it matters: Proactivity distinguishes leaders from followers and helps organizations stay ahead of challenges. Leadership is mostly about taking initiatives.

8. Respect for diversity and inclusion

Behaviour: Acknowledging and valuing differences in background, identity, beliefs, and workstyles. Why it matters: Inclusive environments unlock creativity, engagement, and better business outcomes.

9. Time management and prioritisation

Behaviour: Planning your day well, meeting deadlines, and focusing on high-impact work without burnout. Being organized to utilize all resources. Why it matters: Professionals who manage time well are more productive and resilient. All delivery is linked to organizing resources, time being the most invaluable one.

10. Continuous learning and self-development

Behaviour: Staying curious, being an active learner, seeking feedback, upskilling regularly, and embracing new technologies and ideas. Why it matters: Learning agility is the most future-proof trait in an evolving workplace. It’s recession proof and a survival skill for any professional.

11. Confidentiality and Professional Discretion

Behaviour: Protecting sensitive information and avoiding casual behaviour, loose talk, workplace gossip or leaks. Why it matters: Trusted professionals are often entrusted with greater responsibility and leadership roles.

12. Emotional Intelligence

Behaviour: Staying composed under pressure, showing empathy, and regulating your emotions at workplace, in team settings or in client interactions. Why it matters: Emotional Intelligence is a key differentiator in leadership and in leading global cross-cultural teams. These 12 behaviours are not only foundational to professionalism but also transferable across roles, industries, geographies, and organizational sizes.

PROFESSIONALISM

IS A CHOICE

Every morning, when you wear your ID cards, show up to office, or log in to Zoom, you are not just reporting to a job, you are entering an important space of contribution. You are entrusted with a role, time, talent, and resources. How you honour that trust is what defines you as professional.

Let us stop glorifying hustle without purpose, knowledge without application capability, and mere presence without performance. Let us stop promoting cronies as professionals. Let us stop pretending that professionalism is just a function of position or pay grade.

Professionalism is a personal standard. You either have it or you don’t. Let this be the turning point, not just for your career, but for the culture you leave behind.

(Author is the Chief Spokesperson of BJP, Chairman of Nation Building Foundation, and a Harvard Business School certified Strategist)