Mimicking The Mask

It doesn't take long in the business world to realize that the ladder to success is multi-dimensional. Rising up in the company or getting that promotion isn't just a matter of doing your job properly, or even better than properly. It's about whether people believe you're doing it properly. Others need to believe in your greatness so you can rise. The opinions of people we often don't even consider are the yeast in our professional muffins, the electricity in our career elevators. People get job offers, promotions, good words often just based on word of mouth, right? 

Keeping in mind that this piece is a light blog rather than a hefty, eventually full-of-self-loathing self-help book, there is a piece of wisdom worth sharing. It's name? Professional distance. Upon entering the world of suits and ties, one feels a sense of intimidation, the feeling that, at your core, your heart and soul are not  as professional, packaged, and lint-free as your exterior. But then, considering the office is full of other human beings, it must be remembered that their souls are not fluff-free either. It is more that their exterior has a professional mask that goes with it: a mask that smiles, orders and doesn't back down. A mask that fights for the smallest piece of information merely to uphold its superiority. And this, my friends, is what I would call professional distance.

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Upon first encountering The Mask of professional distance, my enthusiasm slid like a stripper down a pole of degradation. Why were people not chucking Post-It notes over my desk and sending jokes via Facebook chat? Was I liked, equal even? A smile here and there felt like an extra dollar in the garter, a mood-lifter but faintly smacking of humiliation and disregarded opinion. The need to please, to please, to please arose, as Excel tricks and  crafty emails of inspiration flooded the dimly lit professional stage. 

Then the lights came on. I saw a crack in The Mask, a chipped fingernail, a piece of fabric which showed a lack of drycleaning, a label reading 'Farmers' even. The lightbulb within shone, revealing the professional light within. For it was not a trait of character, a plasticity of persona that was needed for success or recognition, but a form of acting. The Mask was needed by all of us for respect, so that people would get things done. It was a mask of fear, almost, for fear instilled action. The Mask could be removed in one's private time, if need be. It certainly explained the industry's love of drinking.


The Mask, now, is still a little green: green with envy, green with sickness induced by a life of partying, green from staying in the office too long. But the professional Mask, or professional distance, is only one of many masks we wear. Sexiness, class, prissiness, being a 'team player', civility, and sometimes even interestedness are things we wear almost everyday: our most natural masks. Seems it doesn't take being into showtunes to become an actor.