History Main / BeingPersonalIsntProfessional

** A backstory example from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': King Aegon III Targaryen was left with a [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes deep phobia of dragons]] due to several traumatic experiences involving the creatures during his childhood (predominantly [[ForcedToWatch being forced to watch his mother's execution]] by being fed to his uncle's dragon at the end of [[CivilWar the Dance of Dragons]]. By the time Aegon became King in his own right, the species was virtually extinct and Aegon recognised that much of House Targaryen's power and prestige came from [[DragonRider their affinity with the creatures]], so he tried (ultimately in vain) to save dragons from extinction, despite personally loathing them.

* In the fifth ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' novel, ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'', [[spoiler: newly appointed Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, [[HeroicBastard Jon Snow]] decides that, despite his personal loathing of his chief opponent within the Watch, Janos Slynt, due to Slynt's [[YouKilledMyFather involvement in the downfall of Jon's father Ned Stark]], and for [[UriahGambit trying to get Jon killed]] [[FrameUp on false accusations of treason]], Jon tries to look past that with giving Slynt command of one of the castles along the Wall, reasoning Slynt has experience commanding men and the repair work needed to make the castle habitable will both get him out of Jon's hair and keep Slynt too busy to cause Jon further trouble. Slynt, [[SmugSnake believing he can browbeat and bully Jon into submission]] [[JustAKid on account of the latter's youth]], refuses to obey orders twice, throwing in some nasty personal insults at Jon the second time...whereupon [[OffWithHisHead Jon executes Slynt]] [[GoodIsNotSoft to illustrate he will not tolerate insubordination]].]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Leela's cryogenics boss, Ipji, observes this trope to a T -- nobody he knows from work knows he is married and his wife doesn't know he has a job. [[LampshadeHanging "I keep my personal and professional lives separate!"]]

* In ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin is surprised to hear his mom ran into his teacher at the store during the summer. When asked why he said he had always imagined that teachers spent the summer sleeping in coffins.

* Gauche Suede from ''Manga/TegamiBachiLetterBee'' is one of the best Letter Bees around, but he also follows this trope. At the start of the series, when he encounters Lag, the protagonist, and learns that Lag is a HumanMail package, he dutifully sets about the task of delivering him to Cambel Litus, but has no desire to get to know him personally That only changes after their journey together, in which they save each other's lives and become FireForgedFriends. Gauche's little sister Sylvette finds this development surprising, noting that she thought Gauche didn't have any friends besides his LoveInterest Aria Link, suggesting Gauche is just as aloof to most of his coworkers.

->''"'''Feelin's'''? Look mate, you know who has a lot o' feelin's? Blokes what bludgeon their wife to death wiv a golf trophy. '''Professionals''' have '''standards'''."''

* In ''Series/{{Veep}}, Sue is the only person who lives by this code in Selina's office because she's the OnlySaneMan. It comes as a surprise to them that she is married and had been for a year when they found because the rest of them tend to overshare about their own personal lives and think it's so odd that she doesn't.

-->"When I go back to work, I'll do my job, so please leave me alone today, OK?"

** One of challengers you can face at the Battle Tree in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' can be a Pokémon Center nurse named Perri, who is a bit annoyed at seeing you on her day off and forces herself to be nice to you regardless. She's also slightly perturbed if you decide to have her as a Multi Battle partner.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', your rival Marnie carries herself like this, talking to the player with a detached and formal air in stark contrast with the friendly Hop and the antagonistic Bede, as she sees starting any sort of personal relationship with a fellow competitor to be little more than a distraction from her goal of becoming Champion. That said, her Pokémon's joyful behavior whenever you show up makes it clear that she is fond of you.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', your rival Marnie carries herself like this, talking to the player with a detached and formal air in stark contrast with the friendly Hop and the antagonistic Bede. While she does warm up to your character as the game goes on, she still tries to be a polite and reserved as possible.

** One of challengers you can face at the Battle Tree in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' can be a Pokémon Center nurse, who is a bit annoyed at seeing you on her day off and forces herself to be nice to you regardless. She's also slightly perturbed if you decide to have her as a Multi Battle partner.

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/{{Pokemon X and Y}}''. The protagonist can catch one of the Pokémon Center nurses outside their usual job, but she just wants to enjoy watching Pokémon battles on her day off, insists that she isn't there to care for your Pokémon, and tells the protagonist to just go over to the nearest Pokémon Center.

** Carrot sums this trope up best at the climax of ''Discworld/MenAtArms'' when he's trying to talk Vimes out of [[spoiler:killing Dr Cruces in cold blood with the Gonne]].

** Hakari Mikagami (Justine Courtney in the FanTranslation) in the second ''Investigations'' spinoff is another example, who turns out to be a {{Deconstruction}} of this trope. She's cold, stoic and utterly devoted to the law most of the time, and initially seems to have an EvilCannotComprehendGood reaction to post-CharacterDevelopment Edgeworth. When we actually see her preside over a trial in the final case, it turns out she suffers extreme emotional stress over trying to keep her personal feelings out of her professional life for the sake of being a "fair and impartial judge", and [[spoiler: associates of the defendant kidnapping her son to try and force a Not Guilty verdict drives her to breaking point]]. Edgeworth has to remind her that even those who hand down legal judgements are still only human. On a more minor note, Sebastian Debeste, who'd been working with her for a long time, wasn't aware she had a son.

* Tying into the whole "connection being a detriment of the job", this trope is probably why most healthcare professionals are disallowed from having friends or relatives as patients.

There's someone you know at work. They're professional and polite, always making a good first impression. They're very good at what they do, but take everything way too seriously. They're quick to introduce themselves to everyone in the workplace, but don't bother to find out any more than their co-workers' names and strengths within the workplace. It's not uncommon for people to start wondering if they [[ArtificialHuman are a robot]] due to their lack of extreme emotion and aloofness. If a situation arises, they will usually help out the one in trouble, then later brush it off saying ThinkNothingOfIt.

A sub-trope of WorkHardPlayHard, where a character is a hard worker and a huge party goer, but doesn't always draw a strict line in between.

* ''LightNovel/{{Shimoneta}}'': [[AloofDarkhairedGirl Oboro]] was purposefully conditioned by Anna's father to dress and act [[DudeLooksLikeALady as a female]] at all times while he's protecting Anna. The only time he's instructed to leave her side is when she's either undressed, or bathing, to ensure he does his job [[StrictlyProfessionalRelationship without risk]] of developing feelings toward her.

* John Wemmick from ''Literature/GreatExpectations'' is like this. At the office of Mr. Jaggers he's a humorless, slightly unpleasant man who is devoted to the acquisition of 'portable property', while at home he is a joyful, caring, and generally amiable fellow who lived with his ancient father in a whimsical house built like a tiny castle. He's very insistent that his personal and professional lives don't cross.

** Fleet Sergeant Ho, the recruiting sergeant that signs Rico up, is cold and condescending towards him (though much more warm with his female friend Carmen). He's also missing both legs and one arm, and does nothing to hide it. When Johnny runs into him later, he's wearing convincing powered prosthetics, and shakes Johnny's hand and congratulates him when he finds out Johnny's in the Mobile Infantry. The missing limbs are explained as a "horror show" designed to scare off the squeamish.
** Col. Dubois, Johnny's History and Moral Philosophy teacher in High School. He treats everyone in the class as being unworthy of joining the Military, and is openly insulting to students who don't share his views. While Johnny is in Boot Camp, he gets a letter from Dubois, which reads like a proud uncle praising a favorite nephew. Johnny has to check the envelope to make sure it was addressed to him.

** Michael, as a spy, has to detach his emotions from his job. So if he needs to get close to a corrupt cop, a banker, or other scum, he will act as needed to get close to the people, even if he honestly wants to take a lead pipe to their head. In his many voice-overs he stresses that the need to do this is crucial to maintaining cover I.D.s...but on the other hand, on the occasions when said emotions can help ''sell'' his cover, expect him to make the most of it.

** Madeline Weston, Michael's mom and not a trained spy, helps Michael break a Yakuza boss of a human smuggling ring by being a kind nurse brought into heal him after Michael and the crew grab him. She plays on his honor and want to survive with Michael invoking his abusive father's behavior and belligerence. Once they escape and she has the needed information, and the yakuza planning some noble sacrifice to delay Michael, Madeline drops the facade, lights up a cig and holds the man at gunpoint while Michael goes and rescues the girls.

* Gorden Ramsey, bombastic chef of ''Series/HellsKitchen'', appears to be quite friendly and personable on the reward trips winners on his show go on. But, as soon as he is back in the kitchen and they screw up....

** Apollo Justice draws a line between his business and professional life, and is unhappy when his personal life gets involved with his work life. It's even implied that though they ask, Apollo never shares details of his past with his coworkers unless he absolutely has to. While not as extreme as other examples, there's some level of distance between Apollo and other people involved in the legal system, and between Apollo and people in his personal life, such as Aura and Clay. Trucy sits somewhere in the middle, getting both sides of Apollo depending on the situation.

** Principal Prickly is often compared to TJ Detwiler and said to have a similar role in the school back when he was a kid and is openly shown to be a life long fan of the same comicbook superhero TJ enjoys. Prickly also never wanted to be a principal, just a teacher, and only took the job to defend recess at the school.

* Tying into the the whole "connection being a detriment of the job", this trope is probably why most healthcare professionals are disallowed from from having friends or relatives as patients.
* As many an entrepreneur will tell you, "There're no friends in business.", likewise, a general rule of thumb when embarking on business ventures is to be wary of working with loved ones

* ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'': {{Zigzagged}}. While Nel firmly believes that the mission comes first, [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure it doesn't mean]] she's without empathy. When her two subordinates get captured by Shelby, Nel attempts to rescue them herself, so Fayt and Cliff wouldn't have to get involved. But they follow Nel against her wishes, so she wouldn't sacrifice herself either.

* Nel from ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime''. She goes on and on like a broken record about her mission. But the second part of this is true too, as when Tynaeve and her other friend are kidnapped, she sneaks off in the night to save them.
** Though its worth nothing she's only like this initially when she barely knows the Protagonist, and doesn't totally trust him. After the first dungeon or two she opens up from that point on, even when on a "mission".

The ConsummateProfessional is very much likely to subscribe to this trope, as is the aforementioned SugarAndIcePersonality. It may also be a response to a ContractualPurity clause. Compare HatesSmallTalk and NaughtyByNight. The PunchClockVillain is an extreme example, where the "work" persona isn't just stern and businesslike, but evil.

* Dr. Clark Edison on ''Series/{{Bones}}''. He '''really''' doesn't want to be involved in anybody's personal life and is less than pleased with all the interpersonal non-business talk.
** Until he opened up. His new problem? ''Over''sharing.