Being Professional & Being Human

What makes us ‘Human’? What qualities define a ‘Professional’? And what’s the connection between these two?
This article delves into ten essential qualities — five that define a high-caliber ‘Professional’ and five that are by nature ‘Human’.

We draw inspiration from the teachings of Padma Bhushan Awardee, Shri. Kamlesh D Patel affectionately called ‘Daaji’, the Global Guide of Heartfulness Movement, and 4th Master of the Sahaj Marg System of Raja Yoga. 

In the Professional World we find little space for self-reflection and personal expression of vulnerability. As we navigate our careers, mapping professional qualities with human virtues in my belief lead to fulfilling and impactful lives.

Being Professional

Integrity

Often interchangebly used with moral values – Integrity is, in its true essence the ability to stay away from a fragmented mindset. To be integral is to be whole, to feel complete, to be one with our center. Professional world offers enough opportunities to bring forth our fragmented nature. Thoughts, words and deeds get misaligned in the mode of professional survival.

We need clarity to bring alignment of thoughts, spoken words and actions. As a quality integrity fosters trust and builds a solid foundation for relationships. Practicing integrity means being consistent in our actions, values, communication, and adherence to principles. When we feel collected within it is natural to feel collected and connected in a team or organisational environment.

Ethics

A closer sibling of integrity, Ethics refers to the moral values that govern a person’s behaviour. Ethical professionals ensure that their decisions and actions favour the greater good. Ethics need the foundation of courage not to give into short-sighted temptations and corruption. A courageous heart naturally brings about ethical conduct. 

Professional environment today offers enough opportunities to discount ethics for short term gains. The general lack of ‘Business Trust’ prevalent in the market today is the result of this ingredient getting compromised for short term gains and gratification. Setting ethical standards and adhering to them is vital for cultivating a culture of fairness and responsibility.

Service Mindset

A service mindset is about prioritising customer needs, be it internal customers (colleagues / partners) or external customers. Being self-less, proactive, and sensitive to needs of others requires compassion. Ability to sense into the needs of others while being mindful of one’s own is key to delivering exceptional value. 

Professionals with a service mindset create thriving and joyful business environment while enhancing the quality of relationships. Customer loyalty and profits then organically follow.

Honouring Time

Time is a non-renewable resource. Honouring time reflects a respect for others as well as one’s own commitments. Being punctual and efficient in managing tasks shows professionalism and reliability. How to develop such a discipline?

When we are free of restlessness associated with our day-to-day business! When we stop running around trying to multi-task with the fake belief of productivity and focus on one thing at a time truly, time and priorities get managed effectively. This requires calmness of the mind and heart! Time management is truly about bringing quality to our work.

Agility

Agility (ability to adjust and adapt to change quickly) together with flexibility (ability to adapt to change) in today’s fast-paced world are prized qualities. Agility requires being humble, adaptable, learning new skills swiftly, and embracing change with a positive attitude. To be free of rigidity which is the opposite of agility requires a deeper ingredient of contentment! 

While it may sound paradoxical, an inner settledness or stability gives rise to qualities such as humility and flexibility. To be intentional in our actions yet not rigid, and to be agile to opportunities helps us co-create efficiently with other stakeholders. Agile professionals can navigate challenges, seize opportunities and ensure that they remain relevant and valuable contributors.

Being Human

Dualities or ‘Dwandwas’

To be ‘human’ is to be swinging like a pendulum between opposites. Ancient texts talk about the ‘Dwandwas’ or dualities. 

Revered Daaji in His books ‘The Heartfulness Way’, ‘Designing Destiny’ and ‘Spiritual Anatomy’ explains in great depth the potential for ‘Human Evolution’ through the simple practice of heart based meditation. The human Heart Region is a constellation of five dominant ‘Chakras’, Points or Knots with five dualities that need balancing. Revered Daaji scientifically illustrates how to master the qualities of the Heart by adopting Heartfulness Meditation Practices and I suggest the reader to explore them here.

The five dualities, the five elements and finer qualities associated with the 5 points of the ‘Heart Region’ are elaborated amply in Revered Daaji’s books (Links at the end of this Article), here we shall only attempt to map them to qualities of a professional described above. They are also referred to as the 5C’s in Heartfulness.

Clarity

Clarity is the quality of purified 5th Point, the dominant element here being Air. With consistent adherence to Heartfulness Meditation Practices, we gradually traverse through the Points of Heart Region (referred to as Spiritual Journey), spiritually purifying each knot to achieve balance between the dualities associated with the particular point. In the case of 5th point it is balance between confusion and clarity. Clarity aids us to develop Integrity apart from other benefits and builds courage.

Courage

Courage is the quality of purified 4th Point, the dominant element here being Water. A healthy balance between fear and courage naturally develops with practice of the methods of meditation in the ‘Heartfulness Way’. Courage dissolves and purges the ethical dilemma of a professional, bringing forth Ethics – to follow the right path, naturally in an individual.

Compassion

Love and the quality of compassion are attributes of the 3rd point. Element which is dominant at this point is Fire. Compassion and non-judgemental love when cultivated nurture relationships, grow a Service Mindset and eventually bring about peace and harmony.

Calmness

Peace, particularly inner peace is the most sought after quality among humans. At the 2nd point (of Heart Region) we experience presence of immense peace and calmness. With Heartfulness meditation, it is quite easy to achieve this quality of peace. In the 2nd point the dominant element of creation is Space. We experience the expansive quality of Space and deep inner peace at the second point.

With the natural state of peace and settledness, managing and Honouring Time as a resource becomes easy as a calm sense of urgency develops.

Contentment

Navigating our likes and dislikes and steering clear of them ‘on-demand’, is a basic challenge of being human. Tricky component being our habitual unawareness to our own likes and dislikes. The dominant element at Point 1 is Earth. Here we cultivate the qualities of Earth such as acceptance. This quality is developed naturally by our own practice rather than possession or accomplishment of anything external. On the contrary the starting point of any accomplishment then is contentment.

In Conclusion…

Being Professional and Being Human are not mutually exclusive; they are complementary aspects of a fulfilling life. The 5C’s acquired through consistent Meditation Practice have helped me immensely in my professional domain and I sincerely wish to offer them here.

Success is not just about what we achieve, rather more of who we become in the process. While these qualities are categorised as ‘Professional’ and ‘Human’, the truth is they are deeply interconnected. A professional with integrity, ethics, and a service mindset is more likely to be compassionate and calm in their interactions. Similarly, a person who embodies clarity, courage, and contentment will naturally bring agility and a respect for time into their professional life.

Disclaimer: Being a Heartfulness Meditation Practitioner I have shared personal reflections and experiential anecdotes here and encourage readers to explore them.

Heartfulness Meditation is always offered free of charge.

If you wish to read more about Heartfulness or pick-up your copy of the books on HFN Life click the links below