At work, there are generally three types of professionals: passionate ones who would spend their time talking about work during breaks, at lunchtime, even at home; those who prefer to talk about anything BUT work; and in between, moderates who know how to measure and adapt to situations. We wanted to understand the perspectives of each group.
Since several respondents stated they love talking about their profession (their “passion”) with colleagues, let’s start with this type of reaction. For marketer Marc-Alexandre Piette, it’s a way to quickly connect with colleagues.
“It’s a natural bridge between what professionals have in common. It’s sharing a common dialect that exposes us to various situations in the field. In my opinion, it allows you to create a bond more easily.”
Marc-Alexandre Piette has his favorite subjects or themes.
“The topics that come up often are the challenges encountered and how to experience or overcome them, the things that inspire us like new practices or concrete cases, our learnings, our personal career development, and finally, our aspirations.”
Carol Lopez has a slightly different motivation, as she talks about her work to people who aren’t necessarily familiar with her profession.
“I’m the only one practicing my profession as an intercultural mediator in the school service center, so I prefer to talk about the job because it allows my colleagues to learn about an unknown but extremely important profession. I also like to talk about my work outside of work. There’s a lot of ignorance and prejudice toward newly arrived people, so it helps educate locals about the realities of an immigrant who has just landed in Quebec.”
Then, of course, it remains a way to create bonds.
“Since I work with newly arrived people, funny things happen, cultural shocks that I like to share with my colleagues.”
Talk About Work? Not for Me!
At the other end of the spectrum are those who prefer to talk about anything except work. For some, work isn’t their passion or even their priority. In the NBA, basketball player Nikola Jokić (3-time league MVP) is known for not being obsessed with the sport he plays so well; as soon as the season ends, he disappears to his ranch and spends all his time with his family.
Among our survey respondents, a programmer we’ll call Frédéric (fictitious name) explained that he doesn’t really like his work, but does it out of a sense of responsibility toward his family.
“I have a very bad relationship with work. You can see it in my need to change often. If not companies, then at least positions internally. I have difficulty with the concept of working for others and especially having to endure questionable decisions (like forcing return to office) instead of solving real problems.”
During breaks, Frédéric tends to eat alone to “recharge his mental batteries”; at home, work is the last subject he likes to discuss.
“I’m a competent programmer, but it doesn’t excite me. I think it’s important to separate professional from personal, especially when the family grows. Life isn’t limited to work, after all. When the topic of work comes up with friends, I keep it short. It would probably be different if my passion became my work. In my spare time, I develop video games and since I’m passionate about it, I wouldn’t hesitate to talk about it if it were my real full-time job.”
A Question of “Balance”
It must be recognized that the majority of people fall between the two poles according to our small surveys. In the conversation thread stemming from the LinkedIn poll, Daniel Picard wisely invited people to “read the room” while remaining attentive to their conversation partner.
“Even when you’re two professionals, as equals, doing business development, some people aren’t attentive to the other person’s reactions, they just ramble on, unroll their pitch and become real chatterboxes!”
Staying attentive to others to guide the conversation… you couldn’t find better advice!
