Maybe I’ve got the “quarantine quibbles” or something, but I feel like I’m seeing a lot more of what I have always described as “unprofessional behavior” these days. You would think grownups would act like grownups, but noooo.

I wrote about this just last week and, lo and behold, I ran smack dab into another glaring example right after that post was published. (For an update on last week…still haven’t heard from the colleagues I wrote about…and I have yet another one to add to the list…all three from the same organization!!)

I know. Waah…waah…waah, Kirk. Get over it. People are busy.

That’s just the point, though. We’re all busy. Even if we’re not working full-time (moi), we still have things we have to do. We’re not sitting around twiddling our thumbs. Which means that when we set an appointment or promise to have something done by XX time, someone else is standing by waiting for us to follow through. And vice-versa.

Why am I talking about this? Because I am acutely aware, in my present roles as adjunct faculty at The University of Tampa, director/ethics officer for PRSA Tampa Bay, and director/ethics chair for the Global Listening Centre that what I do or say will be noticed by others. The unasked question that I have to answer is, “What kind of example am I setting for others…students, current and prospective association members (…the list can go on for miles)?”

In particular these days, I want my students to see how I conduct myself as a professional and say to themselves, “Okay. That’s what a professional looks and acts like. I need to do the same.”

So here’s the deal, my friends. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. If you can’t do what you’ve been asked to do, say so. Don’t leave others flapping in the wind waiting for you to come through with something that, in your heart, you know you’re not going to be able to do at that time.

Yeah…sometimes we hurry up. Sometimes we wait. But the two should not be jammed together. Don’t be Alice’s White Rabbit who kept muttering, “I’m late, I’m late! For a very important date! No time to say ‘hello, goodbye,’ I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!”

#justsayin’