I read an excellent blog this morning, it is about Awards and Recognition by Andy Woodworth. It started me thinking (yes, I know “That must have hurt” haha). I personally think excellence, innovation and just being great at what you do should be recognised. Ok, so being loud about what you achieve and some self promotion isn’t for everyone, that’s fine too, but just because it isn’t for you is no reason to be embittered about those who it IS for.
Why should the mere fact you have been lucky enough to hold onto the a job for umpteen years progressing smoothly up the ladder of grading to retirement mean you are entitled to awards and recognition? Yet somebody barely out of library school who has put their future career on the line to shout about the wrongs being committed to their profession is somehow not entitled to them?
Then I started thinking about a broader picture. All the questions I have been having about my profession and the wider society I live in lately.
Why should it be a prerequisite that you are in current employment before you can contribute to the profession you still belong to and care passionately about? Why should you need a job description that matches a certain narrow set of criteria before you can be called a professional? Are you unprofessional in your approach to what you do because you lack that job title or piece of paper? Why if you say in 1000 words what you could say in 10 should you be considered more erudite and worthy of respect? Why do people who are all working for the same wider cause not listen to each other and respect each other?
Then finally I wondered Why do some people find it so hard to say Thank You to recognise and award what somebody has done for them, even if it is “part of their job”?
Answers on a postcard.
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