Always a Professional

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Always a Professional

 

Gordon Graham
Category: Public Safety

Gordon Graham here with Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Today’s Tip is for Public Safety.

Not acting or looking the part of a professional can be damaging to you, your organization, and your industry.  

Today’s tip is for all public safety members who interact with the public. I want to talk about looking and acting like a professional, particularly when you’re in the public eye.  

In public safety, we find ourselves in a variety of situations each day. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the public is “always watching.” But it’s important that we remember this fact. Because not acting or looking the part of a professional can be damaging to you, your organization, and your industry.  

Let’s first talk about how you look in public. Each industry and each organization have different standards. It’s important that you follow yours. But when doing so, make sure you’re acting in a way that you can be proud of. This may be as simple as ironing your shirt and pants for the day or polishing your boots. This also means caring about your physical fitness. You want to make sure the public is confident in your ability to perform during an emergency.    

Next, it is important to make sure you always act the part of a professional. This means, for example, being courteous, knowledgeable, and informative about your department, and always doing what is in the best interest of the public.  

These actions seem simple and easy because they are. But more public safety members get this wrong than one might expect. The impact that your presentation has on public perception can be astoundingly good or horribly bad.  

By not getting these simple aspects of the job right, the public might question whether you’re able to get the tough ones right. But if you’re consistently looking and acting the part, you will build the public’s confidence in your organization and assist in its efforts.  

And that’s Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Gordon Graham signing off.  

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