What is the def. of professional and what is unprofessional? Seems to be pretty subjective based on the responses I read on this site.

I am more of a relaxed leader.<div><br></div><div>I enforce the regulations, without complaining to my subordinates, but honestly many of them are "stupid". I follow them not because I believe in them but because I believe in my job as an NCO, if that makes sense.</div><div><br></div><div>A high and tight hair cut, keeping hands out of pockets, logos on sunglasses...none of that stupid crap makes a Soldier better or not.</div><div><br></div><div>I had a Soldier that had a within-regulation haircut, albeit longer, and a very high ranking person (I won't point fingers since I'm still in the unit) threatened to bar him from re-enlisting because of the haircut.</div><div><br></div><div>If I ever find myself as a CSM where that is my biggest priority for the day...and I'm deployed and I call for the CSM and 1SG (that would be me) over the emergency base defense net to get them over there to scream at them for 15 minutes about that hair cut, I'm going to retire or shoot myself.</div><div><br></div><div>The things that people think make someone a good/professional Soldier often baffle me.</div><div><br></div><div>To me professional is respectful, great and dedicated at their job, physically fit, competent, and probably most importantly respectful - not to rank but to other human beings, not just superiors, but treating all Soldiers as human beings and adults.</div><div><br></div><div>You talk to some senior leaders and they think professional is a high and tight, short or non-existant sideburns, 300 APFT, and everything else is secondary. And some of these people are the same people that will scream, belittle, and generally stomp over all of their subordinates while claiming THEY are unprofessional for stupid things. Unprofessional is bullying and screaming in my opinion.</div><div><br></div><div>A little quote from Eisenhower:</div><div><br></div><div><div>You don't lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.</div><div><br></div></div><div>Hell I had a senior leader tell me "are you satisfied with scoring a 180 on your APFT?!" Of course my answer was "No" because I love lifting weights and fitness. Their reply was "If you don't like barely meeting the standard on the APFT then why are your sideburns barely meeting the standard!?! Cut your sideburns further!!!"</div><div><br></div><div>So my sideburns, which were about 1/8" above the lower opening of the ear (so "exceeding the standard" by 1/8"), were expect to be now cut to the UPPER opening of the ear, to "exceed" the 670-1 standard and therefore show how professional I am/was.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>I can't think of a thought process much more ridiculous than some of those.</div>

We shouldn't confuse the fact that we are using professional in both its meanings. We serve in the profession of arms and as such we are professionals. Who actually falls in that category varies with some saying that SSG and above are professionals and others saying SFC, but it still means we are not members of a trade or simply laborers. We have dedicated our lives to a larger funtion. The second usage of the word is not to say one is not a professional Soldier but rather one has violated the norms we have agreed on as members of a profession. Those don't have to be ethical or legal violations but if they are unethical or illegal they most certainly meet the definition of unprofessional. But we have all also known that young officer or young NCO who is doing his initial entry requirement and is then punching out to take his skills to the civilian world. Now that guy can be a professional for no matter how short the period may be, but I'm talking about the one who is just going through the motions. He is the unprofessional without being illegal or unethical. 

To me professionalism is how you carry yourself and act.
I go to parade rest for anyone that out ranks me and talk to everyone the way I would like to be talked to. I don't think your hands in your pocket is unprofessional. I wear my uniform correctly and with pride, but my pants may be bloused lower than regulation allows but I still look professional by the way I act and converse.

1). The term professional is a word defined in many ways by different points of view. The first step in understanding professionalism is to narrow the term to what point of view you want to look at it from. We are obviously defining it from a military profession or as LTC Gross put it "a Profession of Arms" point of view. Now we must understand that other professions will have vastly different and varying points of view.

2). In the Profession of arms it is our duty to do things that other Americans would not, or even could not do. We as Americans are taught from childhood to respect the lives and freedoms of others. In turn we want our lives and freedoms respected. This we all know as the "Golden Rule". But our duty as professional soldiers is to; when necessary, infringe in the highest manner possible on another human being's rights. That is by taking their life. Now the duty to lawfully kill another human being is reserved only for the privileged. This is the highest, hardest and most challenging duty that can be given to anyone, and since the beginning of time the Soldier has always owned that duty.

3). Every leader must understand that it takes a certain type of person to be able to lawfully kill another. It is not just about killing though it is also about sacrifice. Because the people that we are duty bound to kill are just as duty bound to whatever beliefs that cause the judgment of their deaths. These people are going to defend their beliefs with deadly force. So we the people selected to carry out the judgment of another man's death must understand that we do this at a risk to our own lives and to the lives of our Brothers around us. It is not until this understanding that we can truly be called Soldiers.

4). The Soldier; not just a person in uniform, but a true Soldier has been found over the years to have certain character traits. These traits in our profession are called "The Army Values". They are; Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. These values are essential to having the privilege of taking the life of another human being. I'll give you an example. I am a Sci-Fi nerd so I will use Star Wars. Think of the Jedi and why they must be pure. It is because the obligation to the security and welfare of the people they serve has a Dark Side. This "Dark Side" is what we call the easy wrong. It is appealing, it is popular, it is what we think will help us look good in the eyes of our Soldiers.

5). The regulations placed on us as Soldiers are not there to annoy the people who think they know what really being a soldier is about. They are there to measure one's ability to conform to and maintain the Values expected of us as Soldiers. If every Soldier was Loyal, would there be any Bergdahls? If every Soldier understood his obligation to Duty, would there be AWOLS, or prisoner abuse such as Abu Ghraib? If every Soldier had Respect, would the SHARP Program need to exist? If every Soldier provided Selfless Service, would there be a need for Army Team Building? If every Soldier had Integrity, would there be an 8th Troop Leading Procedure? If every Soldier had Honor, would there be punishments for Stolen Valor? And finally if every Soldier had Personal Courage, would I be writing this post right now?

6). So back to the original post's one example of professional, hands in your pocket. Yes it is unprofessional. Standing around with your hands in your pocket makes you look like you don't have anything to do, or that you are to stupid or lazy to find anything to do. There are three types of people; Those Who Make Things Happen, Those Who Watch Things Happen, And Those Who Say, "What Just Happen." Iron Discipline and Training is what makes a Soldier, a killer of men. One who kills for his country not dies for it. Enforcers of Iron Discipline are what soldiers expect from leaders. I would rather my soldiers respect me than like me. Trust me it's not the same thing.

7). Respect doesn't come from treating them kindly. It comes from your ability to lead by example. It comes from your competency level at you Job. It comes from getting your hands dirty because no matter what rank you are Participative Leadership is your primary leadership style. It comes from putting their needs above your own. Being kind and not enforcing standards is selfish. It is your need to be liked, or to be the cool NCO or Officer over the Soldiers need to survive. This is a recipe for writing a lot of letters to loved ones. If that is what you want, then be the Leader who's Soldiers say, "He was so cool he didn't care about any of that stupid Army Stuff." But I want mine to say what a soldier said to CSM (Ret) Purdy when he left 1st Ranger BN, which was, "Sergeant Purdy, I hated to hear you come in, in the morning, and sometimes I just flat hated you, but I would follow you to hell with gasoline drawers on."

8). there are NO I say again NO quotes from any of the GREAT Leaders in history that sound anything like: "I enforce the regulations, without complaining to my subordinates, but honestly many of them are "stupid". I follow them not because I believe in them but because I believe in my job as an NCO, if that makes sense." They sound more like: “We don't rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training.”― Archilochos. Or like this: "Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price." - Sun Tzu

9). I really hope you understand at least my point of view on MILITARY, NOT CIVILIAN Professionalism, you may not agree but, that is your right. Of which real Soldiers have fought and died for. To the originator of this discussion I hope that was interesting enough for you.

As a SOF professional, my answer may be different and possibly even inflammatory to some. A professional, in my opinion, is someone who shows up, ready to go with their personal feelings and judgements in their back pocket. They execute whatever tasks that require accomplishment and do so without needing to be told. A professional may even see another issue or deficiency or an improvement along the way towards mission accomplishment, stop and address the issue and then "charlie mike" without breaking stride.

I do not believe that a Professional has to look a certain way, as they may find themselves in a variety of environments as we often do on the SOF side of things, but their appearance is neat and within the confines of governing regulation, they hold themselves with a quiet dignity and are never condescending in their manner to subordinates or lay-persons and demonstrate equal deference to all they encounter.

Sir, you are probably right.  I have never seen the Army actually define the work "professional."  It seems that it is just assumed that everyone knows what it is.  Kind of like not being able to completely describe right, but knowing what right looks like.

I think this is a very good question, and you are right there will be many different answers.  It may be easier to define what is UNprofessional opposed to what IS professional.

This question is like asking NCOs what is consider faddish. All of them will have a different answer. 

First, know your job and do it well. Professionalism is following the standards and balancing those with the situation. Practicing tact to always be truthful. Listening to your troops when they voice a concern and correcting them, when needed. It's the ability to know your troops in order to hold them accountable while understanding when they may be struggling. Quiet, honest, humble, knowledgeable, may be some traits used to label those exhibiting high degrees of professionalism.