Don’t you just hate it when someone is trying to pull something
over you? Whether it’s a sales pitch or lame excuse, it’s irritating because
they think you’re stupid; as if you can’t see through their foolishness.

Well, don’t go too far down that road, because you do it
to yourself, too. Psychologists call it dissonance theory and it goes like
this. You consider yourself a professional and aspire to be professional. At
times, however, you behave unprofessionally. That causes psychological
discomfort (dissonance), so you find a way of rationalizing what you did to
avoid admitting you were unprofessional. You use self-justifying rationalizations
to protect your ego from the painful truth.

Here’s what self-justification might sound like:

I didn’t want to
yell at her, but it was the only way to get her attention.

Yes I missed a
deadline, but I wanted to show how their delays affected the project’s timing.

I know the report
was incomplete, but when I explain the reason why, they will understand.

Because of your justifications, you end up duping
yourself into believing your professionalism is higher than it really is. Your
efforts to justify your behavior works—you don’t see anything wrong. Everyone else
sees your behavior as breaks in your professionalism.

Rather than justify your unprofessional behavior, admit
it.

I lost my temper
and yelled at her.

I missed a deadline
I promised to meet.

I produced an
inferior report that disappointed my client.

When you see yourself as you really are, you can do
something about it, like apologize, re-commit to a higher standard or find a
better way. It will also prevent you from becoming complacent in your pursuit
of professionalism.

This week, catch yourself self-justifying and strip it
away. Professionalism is difficult enough without you duping yourself.