19 May What The Little Prince Taught Me About My [Professional] Self-Worth
Prelude to Perceived Professionalism
So before our Saturday night escapades into the land of the Little Prince, I was having a frustrating conversation with my hubs about my professional look, accomplishments, and about being taken seriously… I felt I didn’t, I hadn’t, and I wasn’t. (Honestly, I think the conversation was more frustrating for my poor husband than it was for me; yet he remained patient and listened to my ramblings.)
Although I receive many comments and compliments about how young I look and how great that is for me; I don’t feel it is a good thing. Not in my profession, where I am not taken any more seriously than a student worker. Missed opportunities don’t happen because I don’t try for them; they happen because assumptions are made about my knowledge and experience based solely on how I look. So I was frustrated and ready to throw in the towel.
“Woe is me — why do others receive opportunities that I can’t even though I know my stuff and I work hard?”
“I know,” came my epiphany after venting for a few minutes, “I will try harder to alter my appearance and attitude so that I can look more professional, and therefore be seen as a professional — a professional with years of experience and knowledge behind her. I will start wearing only professional clothing when we go to gatherings and events in town, and I will only speak of my work, nothing personal.”
My husband argued that he did not think this was a good idea. That throwing away those things that made me unique would not solve the problem of me feeling that I wasn’t being taken seriously in my profession. But I disagreed and made up my mind. People would only see my serious side from now on.
And so the workweek ended. The weekend began and we had company — our teenage cousin who, when asked what she wanted to watch that night while we had homemade pizza, suggested The Little Prince.
The Little Prince in a Nutshell
To sum it up, the Little Prince is a sweet, sad story of lost childhood and the journey to finding that which was lost. It is a 2015 English-French 3D animated fantasy adventure family drama film (hello mouthful!) based on the 1943 novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
In this story, children aspire to be accepted into this prestigious private school where they will learn how to be the perfect adults.
They will all learn the same things, wear the same clothing, drive the same cars, live in the same houses, and go to the same job day in and day out. Once this happens, you are considered successful. Success is defined as being “essential” — if you’re not essential, you aren’t contributing to adult society.
But a little girl learns to defy that expectation with the help of her eccentric neighbor, a fox, and a little prince.
Now, honestly, I don’t want to give too much of it away because I feel it is worth a view. It is really a great little film, so go Netflix-and-chill with these wonderfully created characters. But I would like to share what I learned about myself as a professional, as well as how I can apply what I’ve learned to my business (HR).
I know… I have this annoying little habit of seeing HR in everything, don’t I?
Lessons from The Little Prince
‘Yes, this is a nice little story about your weekend movie plans, but what does this have to do with my professional self-worth?’ you may be wondering. Good question, I’ll tell you…
In so many words, some of us get really caught up with our life’s plans — getting into the right school, snagging the perfect job, you know, aiming to be the perfect adult. No time for leisure, or pleasure. We want to be just like every other successful professional out there in the workplace. And how did they succeed? By becoming just like the successful professional before them. Eventually, we become copies of the professionals we admire and emulate. We forget ourselves, and how to be true to ourselves. We try hard to fit into society’s “image”of the perfect adult, the successful professional, often abandoning our individuality for the mundane familiarity that ‘social norms’ dictate we take on. We stop finding value in the things that made us happy, and sacrifice happiness to find our “werth” in accomplishments, accolades, how much we know, who we know, and what we have. Because, after all, this is what being an ‘adult’ is all about… right?
We want so badly to be taken seriously that we forget how to laugh, smile, and just be happy. We forget how to be children. Not immature, mind you; but curious, fearless, accepting, honest, and playful. We forget to pause for stories, to look up at the stars, and how it feels to fly. We forget… how to live.
But in doing so, we often lose ourselves in the crowd of look-a-likes.
The Employee Experience
And speaking of look-a-likes — this is a great segue into how I apply this to the workplace.
My only disclosure here is the fact that I find nothing wrong with professionalism — with striving to be professional and doing your best work while at work. Just wanted to get that out there.
This movie isn’t entirely wrong in its assessment of the employee experience. We study to work, find work, and then live to work. Our entire lives are spent in the quest for knowledge to use… in the workplace. And once we find work, we fall into the daily routine — wake up, dress, drive to work, clock in, work, lunch, work, clock out, drive home, get ready for more work the next day.
Cogs in the Workplace Machine
Routine is often where individuality goes to die. Once you fall into the same routine at work, you’ve become a cog — nothing more, nothing less. True, you may be the best cog in your department, but you are a cog, nonetheless. You look the same as your coworkers, sound the same, and act the same. We become conditioned to perform out of habit, and habit keeps us from having to put any thought into our actions. We just perform on autopilot. Eventually, it sucks the life out of you.
This is fine for some workplaces — they don’t want their employees to think. Maybe the work calls for mindless action — much like a factory conveyor belt. If that is what you want from your work, then more power to you. No judgment here.
But for the rest of us — workplaces should allow individuality. HR should encourage companies to find employees with different personalities, and hire them. You want employees who are engaged, and curious, and fearless, and honest. Diversity is so much more than race or skin color or gender — it includes different ways of thinking, of solving problems; and it means that a business can reach a variety of customers when they have a variety of employees. When individuals can express themselves, and be themselves, they can bring new ideas to the workplace.
Don’t be the kind of egotistical micro-manager who keeps their employee under their thumb — not allowing employees to speak out of turn, or (dare I say it) think out of turn. Those types of corporate-minded companies exist, even today; and I can guarantee that morale is low and turnover is high.
Instead, be the kind of startup and small business that values individuality and creates an open and accepting company culture. Employees who are encouraged to think outside the box, who are allowed to work freely and creatively, are the employees who will go out in search of new ways to help your business succeed.
So, no: I will not be changing everything about myself to fit in to what I think an acceptable HR Professional should be. I’m going to be myself, and I’m going to keep trying to share my HR knowledge with startups and small businesses so that they can also have an HR that reflects them. It’s the niche way!
Yeah, definitely go watch this movie. And apply those lessons to your real and professional life. And your workplace. Don’t be afraid to be your own professional self, and to allow others to be their unique selves, as well.