Why Marketers Are Afraid of Kindness

Absolutely this. I don't think I've said an honest two sentences at work my entire professional career.

Being honest does not mean having no filter. I have a colleague who is brutally honest on work related topics. If he does not like something, he is not afraid to say it without wrapping it in empty polite statements. But if he likes something he also says it immediately. It makes working with him very refreshing and efficient. But on private matters or politics he remains rather silent (and a very direct "I do jot want to disclose this information to working colleagues" kind of way).

Even that isn't all of it.

First, the definition of palatable changes for each observer and each topic. Maybe you're lucky and everyone agrees with your politics but then there is still the problem that you care about the customer too much and don't like ripping them off, which your boss definitely finds unpalatable.

Second, making your inner self that well known is essentially giving everyone else the power to manipulate you.

The professional facade isn't really about dishonesty, it's just a neccessary boundary interface for allowing different people to work together who otherwise would not. Like an api or a shim.

It's actually an anti-discrimination force.

Without the professional boundary, workplaces would devolve even more than they already are into clubs that are toxic to anyone not in the club. One office will be 100% bible-quoting wife-beaters, and another will be 100% vegan trannies, and no one else need apply in either, even as a customer or vendor let alone employee. Many places already have "distinct culture" shall we say, but at least on paper professionalism counteracts that, even if not nearly enough.

You really benefit from me not knowing that you think prayer is just as important as knowledge in making something work, and I really benefit from you not knowing what depraved things I got up to over the weekend, and someone else really benefits from no one else knowing their stance on abortion before needing some time off for a family matter.

Maybe none of these are exactly the kinds of things the author was talking about. They gave no actual examples and so there is no way to say if what they're talking about actually constitutes breaking professionalism. Professionalism doesn't necessarily mean reserved. You can be enthusiastic and still be proffessional. Maybe that's all they were.