Professionalism
In order to become a professional in a specific field, an individual need to have knowledge, skills, and abilities. There is an opinion that higher education gives a person the right to be considered a professional. However, situations are common in which an individual without any education earns himself a fortune thanks to his mind and talents (Dare & Wendel, 2020). Professionalism lies in the conscientious performance of one’s duties, continuous development, the ability to organize, create, earn, motivate one’s activities, and engage in self-realization. All this must be backed up by determination and faith in success (Dare & Wendel, 2020). The process of becoming a specialist in a narrow field is multi-stage, long, and productive.
Ego
However, there is ego, which is also a common phenomenon among specialists. The fact is that it is typical for human consciousness to make certain expectations and ideas. This also extends to conceit, which leads to a highly inefficient workflow. At the same time, a specialist with a big ego considers himself a professional higher than he really is. As a result, an individual begins to follow and incarnate his own illusions by performing tasks in which he has no competence (Dare & Wendel, 2020). At the same time, the discrepancy between ideas and reality gives rise to dissatisfaction in the individual, which is expressed in a decrease in efficiency and productivity.
Combination of Characteristics
If a qualified specialist develops an ego, then this leads, first of all, to professional degradation. The fact is that individuals qualitatively and efficiently perform certain tasks. Begins to try to do more to meet his own expectations. As a result, time, attention, and skills begin to dissolve into many tasks, none of which will eventually be completed (Dare & Wendel, 2020). This eliminates all the merits of a professional as the efficiency drops. In addition, this often leads to emotional burnout, which leads to the loss of an employee as an element of the entire system. Thus, it is impossible to combine a negative and positive quality in this context at the same time since the characteristics themselves have a different nature, namely, factual and psychological.
Impact on a Team and Organization
The most important problem of selfishness is its negative impact on the organization and the work team. First, selfishness breeds toxic behavior since one of its qualities is a condescending attitude toward others. Thus, the atmosphere in the team becomes tense, which leads to a loss of motivation for the work of colleagues. In addition, failure to complete tasks in vain contributes to the spread of responsibility to the entire team since specialists are forced to correct errors or complete processes that have been started but not completed (Dare & Wendel, 2020). In the end, this will lead to systematic failures that affect the efficiency of the entire organization. At the same time, the toxicity of the individual and the tense atmosphere lead to a large number of conflicts, which ultimately spreads frustration in the firm.
Reference
Dare, T. and Wendel, B. W. (2020). Professional ethics and personal integrity. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.