Why every worker needs professional identity development
I love to rant about why professional identity matters and all the reasons having a strong sense of your self in your work is life changing, but sometimes I feel I'm in an echo chamber talking to myself.
The topic of professional identity is mighty. Today, I'm going to prove it to you.
The Power of Professional Identity
Did you know that the American Bar Association (ABA) requires professional identity development as part of the curriculum at law school? That's right, new lawyers are trained in what the law means and gain legal skills while also taking time to reflect deeply on who they want to BE as a lawyer.
In law, professional identity is defined as:
the “catalyst” for an integrated legal education. It teaches students “the skills and inclinations, along with the ethical standards, social roles, and responsibilities, that mark the professional.”
In my terms, professional identity is "how you see yourself in your work, besides your formal title." It's how you want to be known, and it includes your skills, behaviors, personality, ethics, and interests as a person in the workforce.
The reason the ABA requires professional identity development is to encourage diversity within the profession. They want each law student to be their own kind of lawyer.
The ABA found that without explicitly teaching students about professional identity and how to form it, the field becomes a homogenous professional identity where every lawyer looks, sounds, and acts the same, which undermines the core of what it means to be a diverse and inclusive profession.
In Illinois, "What does it mean to live like a lawyer?" is a challenge question all incoming law students are issued BEFORE they start their first law class. This annual challenge is part of the Commission on Professionalism's orientation program. It's designed to get law students to reflect on the professional identity of being a lawyer before they're trained to think like one.
More Than Lawyers, It's Doctors and Engineers Too
It's not only lawyers who receive professional identity training, but doctors and engineers too. Top clinics like the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins have been working for years to teach students how to be the doctor they want to become.
Much of the impetus to embed this concept into formal education stems from the Carnegie Report published in 2010. In it, they found a gap in the preparation of professionals in the fields of medicine, law, and engineering. One of their four top recommendations was to focus on professional identity formation as a backbone of education because it is an essential foundation of:
clinical competency
communication and interpersonal skills
ethical and legal understanding
and attaining aspirational goals in performance excellence, accountability, humanism, and altruism
Their belief in the power of professional identity development is not unfounded. There is a measurable difference in job performance for doctors who have a stronger sense of themselves in their roles!
Measuring The Value of Professional Identity Development
Not only do schools value the importance of professional identity development as part of their curriculum, we can measure the value once people are in their chosen profession!
Studies in peer-reviewed medical journals like this one and this one reveal professional identity is integral to:
boosting morale
assigning more meaning to your professional practices
influencing how you embody your role
feeling more job satisfaction
making less errors
and reducing burnout
It's no wonder professional identity development is part of training and education. It truly makes a difference to a person's career, how they show up in the workplace and interact with clients, and what kind of performance and effectiveness an employer receives by hiring them.
Given all of this information, it's obvious professional identity development is necessary and impactful. Law, medicine, and engineering wouldn't require it if it wasn't.
But where does that leave the rest of us?
What about the millions of workers who are program designers, operators, product developers, executives, and all the other roles that create a functioning society?
Where is Professional Identity Development For Everyone Else?
In a time when burnout is running high, employee engagement is wavering, humans are competing against AI, and people desire meaning and fulfillment from their work, we need proven, sustainable solutions that transform the workforce.
Professional identity development is not a widespread, nor universally understood concept, and it certainly isn't included in any of the training or degree programs I've encountered.
Most of the time when I mention the words professional identity, I get strange stares, confused glances, and gut reactions where a person responds with their job title.
There's a void in our awareness of this powerful concept.
Professional identity development is not just for doctors and lawyers. Anyone can benefit from it. We need to provide this training for all.
If doctors, lawyers, and engineers are achieving results by integrating professional identity development into their education and training, then why don't all schools, employers and professional development programs include it too?
Imagine a World Where EVERYONE Receives Professional Identity Development
A world where everyone receives professional identity development is a world where each person feels more seen, known, and valued by themselves, their coworkers, and the larger context they work in.
Whether through school, a training program or specialized PD, this is the future of work.
Professional identity is part and parcel of figuring out who you are, getting a job, navigating your career path, going through career transitions, working on a team, attracting clients, and so much more.
Imagine if...employee orientation included professional identity development when you were hired? You'd get to explore who you are and who you want to become in this new role, matching the skills and deliverables with your vision of yourself.
Imagine if...team building retreats or company PD time were focused on professional identity development? You'd get to re-examine who you are truly in your role and how your feel seen (or don't) and how to change that. You'd also get to know your colleagues on a deeper level. It would build stronger connections and understanding of why each of you is there and what fulfills you, along with opportunities to identify what else you need to feel more fulfilled and valued.
There are a host of "imagine if..." scenarios I could pose because I see the application of professional identity development as endless.
In order to transform our workplaces and reinvigorate the workforce, we need to support each person to see who they are and remember we are more than our job titles.
How do you want to be seen in your role?
How do you see yourself?
Who are you without your job title in your career?
These are the types of questions that professional identity development helps answer, and this is why I'm passionate about driving More Than My Title into the future and taking it to the next level.