There is an interesting piece on YouthMin.org about professionalism in youth ministry. As you can tell from the hotlinked graphic above, they list five key things: Dress, Time Management, Levels of Leadership, Learning to Delegate and Long Term Planning. Have a look...

Professionalism is a key area in the training of youth workers, and one that is often neglected. I spent a lot of my career managing young gap year volunteers and young paid workers in a residential setting, and it's amazing how many of them don't understand the key aspects of being professional. Things like the need to turn up for work on time, the need to come to meetings prepared, the need to watch your language and your behaviour in front of young people, and - my personal favourite hobby-horse - the need to take disagreements behind closed doors.

Don't get me wrong... the vast majority of the people I've supervised over the years have been very professional. And where they weren't, it was largely my fault. After all, I was responsible for their training and supervision.

However you look at it though, professionalism really matters. We are role models. We represent organisations. We have boundaries.