I gotta act professional, someone important is gonna be here. Don't talk about personal issues, it's not for work. Would you say that in front of your boss?

I hear it all the time...

The truth is, professionalism is really just about respect. Over the years though, it seems to have become more and more about perception.

You are one person at work and another at home.

It's not really our fault though, it's just reality. It's what the system has become and what it tells us too do.

But it usually comes down to one motivator. Fear. Fear is usually the key motivator. Fear of losing your job. Fear of getting demoted or never getting promoted. Fear of never getting a job. That's mostly it. Just fear.

But why is it bad if people know I'm not professional all the time? As long as I'm not doing a bunch of illegal drugs all the time and such. To tell you the truth, I don't want to work with the always professional person anyways and I haven't for a while. 

Truth is, soon, no one will. Why? The social society.

The social web changes everything at it's very core and people and employers need to recognize the trend that's coming. Many companies and employees are scared shitless and it's an interesting time to watch all of this play out. 

Professionalism, as we know it, is dead.

Does this mean that we'll act like characters from "The Hangover" and be disrespectful at work?

No.

What it does mean though, is that you shouldn't and (soon) won't be able to hide from what you did yesterday, last week or even 5 years ago.

A digital life begins instantly with the connected world and rarely goes away. Like people say now,

"What happens in Vegas stays on Facebook."

It's true.

This scares the shit out of most employers and workers. Mainly because it's all we know and what we don't know. You should not go to work and tell people about your drinking escapade last weekend or your friends that are pretty wild. It's just not work appropriate. 

I disagree completely and here's why.

What if we know more about whom we worked with? What if we could have deeper, more meaningful relationships with those folks who we spend a majority of our awake like with? What if? Just what if we knew what other people like to work on or do outside of work so we'd know a project or job that they may be better suited for? 

The answer shouldn't be to block these types of interactions, it should be to encourage them. Many people will disagree and argue;

What about when all people do is spend their time on Facebook? We have to block it? What if they have inappropriate photos? Blah blah blah...

Well, if a worker spends all their time on Facebook then they probably shouldn't have a job, heh? As for inappropriate photos, if you have illegal stuff going on then that is a different story but the truth is that most of the time it is just pictures of socializing and having fun that gets people in trouble. The worst part is that many people just search photos to find that one photo to get someone in trouble which is completely ludacris yet how our society works and we are wired... 

As we grow and adjust into our new and ever growing online social graph, one thing is for sure; personal and professional are becoming blurred and for many of us it has already disappeared.

The funny thing is that for those of us who have had this disappear, it seems as though most would say it's a good thing.

Working with people on a more personal level drives ideas, creativity and productivity into the work place.

Being around people you like, respect and spend time with on a friend level really does drive a different type of work environment.

By now, the term "company culture" may be the buzz work of 2010 but it truly is important.

As everyone becomes one degree away from everyone else in this hyper connected world, the people who love what they do and love who they work with will dominate and attract most of the top talent and workers from all industries and therefore be the next business leaders of tomorrow.

When you can hear everything that is going on out there, it only makes sense that people will resonate with people and companies that let them be themselves, act different and enjoy work as a part of life not a separation from life. Simple as that.

So next time someone says you better not put a picture of you drinking from Saturday night on Facebook, ask why? If you get fired for just being you then it's probably for the best...

If we all know more about what makes each of us tick, we can build better businesses and in the end, better relationships with the people who we spend most of our lives with, our co-workers.

Let's strive to just be us, be different and build a society that values openness and honesty that will ultimately lead to better, more respectable business and lives for all of us. I want to work with people I like. As Mark Suster says;

Life's too short to work with assholes.

...and I have been lucky to work at 3 amazing companies so far; Cobalt.com, Gist.com and Zaarly.com, who I can say were not full of assholes.

-Shane Mac