Creating a Professional Philosophy Statement
Why does your work matter? What keeps you motivated?
The idea of a professional philosophy statement was introduced to me at a conference I attended last summer. A professional philosophy statement was described to me as a brief statement that summarizes your goals and approach to your professional career. The conference emphasized that this statement did not have to be perfect and it would change over time.
The purpose of a professional philosophy statement is to be your guiding light throughout your career. This statement should describe what motivates you and the standards that you want to hold yourself to throughout your career. The statement should be something that you can use as a reference point in cover letters, job interviews, and statements of purpose, and overall be a great tool for you to look at when you are feeling unmotivated in your profession.
Instead of focusing on what I thought others would want to hear, I decided to focus on phrases and ideas that have helped me create goals and motivation for my career. My professional philosophy statement ended up more as a bullet point list rather than a thought-out paragraph.
Some questions that were used to kick start the brainstorming process of your professional philosophy statement are:
What do you do?
Why does it matter?
Why does it matter?
Why does it matter?
Essentially you write down what you do in your career. Then you ask yourself why the work you do matters. Then you expand on that and ask yourself again why that matters and one more time why it matters. I’ll use my previous job as an example where I was a Leadership Consultant for a National Fraternity.
What do you do?
I provide education and resources to college fraternity men.
Why does it matter?
Young fraternity men are supporting others and their communities.
Why does it matter?
Young men can be overlooked and feel lost and unsupported.
Why does it matter?
These young men are sons, brothers, nephews, etc. and one day they will be husbands, fathers, uncles, etc. with a community around them that they can care for and be supported.
This type of exercise can help you get a larger perspective on the work that you might take for granted. I know for me, working as a traveling Leadership Consultant for a National Fraternity was very hard at times and there were weeks on end where I wasn’t around anyone that I felt supported by, which would make my work very hard and my personal life feel unfulfilled. This is why I wrote myself a note to look back on during these hard times or lack of motivation that would show me my original inspiration and motivation for taking the job in the first place.
Next, I started my bulleted list of mantras or small blurbs that I relate to my professional philosophy. These were some of the things I wrote down:
Seek first to understand
Ask more questions
Be present
People cannot live up to expectations if they don’t know what they are
Be transparent and accountable
Be aware and curious
Be intentional
Be graciously confident and fiercely competitive
It’s not about me
Know the short game, play the long game*
Do not make the simple, complex*
After creating a brain dump of mantras and small blurbs, I was able to create a small statement of professional philosophy. This was created almost a year ago so there are some things that I would add and some things that I would change. Maybe I will create a second blog where I revisit this exercise and update my professional philosophy statement.
Stay curious and pursue your passions. Know the short game, play the long game. It’s okay to not know everything; learn and ask questions. You’re going to make mistakes, be transparent. Be present.
There’s value in the work that you do. Build a bridge so the person behind you has a guide and has it easier than you. Support the people around you. There wasn’t always someone there for you so be there for others when they need you. Greater love has none than this than to lay one’s life down for others. (John 15:13)
Be kind to yourself. Be patient. Listen. Learn.
This isn’t your first rodeo, you’ll get through it.
Garbage in, garbage out.
Now, this isn’t the most coherent professional philosophy statement, but every phrase and sentence means something to me. Revisiting this brings back the thoughts and feelings that I had when I was sitting at that conference. There are a lot of things in this statement that I still hold today in my daily life.
Overall this is a great exercise and it can be beneficial for your personal life as well as your career. It is a great tool to use for your motivation and can be applied to job interviews, continued education, and your daily life.
I hope you enjoyed this exercise and let me know if there’s anything you would like me to elaborate on. Also please feel free to reach out to me or comment on this post with anything you would like me to write about in the future.
Have a great week, and keep chasing your dreams!
Seth N. Hansen