History Main / BeingPersonalIsntProfessional

* In the fifth ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' novel, ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'', [[spoiler: newly appointed Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, [[HeroicBastard Jon Snow]] decides, 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]], 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 [[ReassignedToAntarctica 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, [[TooDumbToLive throwing in some nasty personal insults at Jon the second time]]...whereupon [[OffWithHisHead Jon executes Slynt]] [[GoodIsNotSoft to illustrate he will not tolerate insubordination]].]]

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.

* Much like the Marines example in the Real Life section, Zelik Leybenzon in the ''Literature/StarTrekTheNextGenerationRelaunch'' novel ''Q & A'' is a DrillSergeantNasty to his men, and kind of a rude dick to Geordi while on-duty, but is perfectly friendly and sociable when everyone's hanging out in Ten Forward.

** Carrot Ironfoundersson. When the love of his life, Angua, is in an extremely dire situation, he carries on with a practically British StiffUpperLip; because getting emotional about it ''won't help her'', whereas carrying out his duties ''might''. When he has an admitted bad guy at a disadvantage, he won't hold back out of nobility, or honour, or even the sense of justice that might have stopped, say, Sam Vimes; he will kill them stone dead so that they won't hurt anyone else. Taken to extremes when he puts himself at risk of freezing to death because ''maybe'' that news will get back to Angua, who ''maybe'' will come and save him, enabling them to team up.

** 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, 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.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' has mercenary wizard Binder. He walks close enough to breaking the Laws of Magic without going over them that the Wardens would like to kill him if he does so but have bigger problems than him to handle, so they let him live. When first introduced in ''Turn Coat'', he is a competent, professional, and dangerous. He won't hesitate to consider just burning Harry's house and waiting with a gun when Harry escapes with the man Binder is being paid to grab. He also agrees to surrender when Harry finally beats him but spares his life. Later in ''Skin Game'' when he and Harry work together, Harry finds a much more affable side to him during the planning stages and meal times.

* In ''Webcomic/ElfBlood'', Council Captain SKO behaves this way when on-duty, even going so far as to make the childhood friends under her command address her as [[spoiler: Madam Controller]] when on-mission. Off-duty though, they live in the same quarters, share the same food, and SKO behaves a lot more casually to them.

* Many offices now have "casual days" where employees can come into work dressed in more "everyday" attire that they might wear while running errands or going out shopping. Some employees may still choose to come dressed in more formal attire because they don't feel that casual dress is professional. Similarly, while most employees may have family pictures and other personal decorations in their office, some employees may not bother to decorate their cubicle at all.
* Germans, specifically North Germans, have a reputation for strictly enforcing a divide between Work-time and Play-time. This may be one of the reasons for the [[GermanicEfficiency Germanic Efficiency]] stereotype.

** 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 [[FedToTheBeast 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.

* ''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.

[[folder:Sport]]
* [[UsefulNotes/{{Tennis}} Roger Federer]] seems unaffected and cold on the court, but is very social and cheery off. If someone is injured, he calls or emails them to make sure they're OK.
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* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': Main lead Fuutarou Uesugi is hired as a PrivateTutor for the titular quintuplets. At first, he only views them as his source of income, but as he gets to know them more, he starts to open up more and care for them beyond that. After quitting and later being rehired as their tutor, [[OverprotectiveDad their father]] warns him against having any inappropriate relationships with them, which visibly unnerves him as he's aware of their feelings for him, and causes him to start distancing himself from the quintuplets.

[[folder: Real Life]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

[[folder: Web Comics]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

One day, you happen to run into them outside of working hours. Not only do they greet you with a large smile on their face, but they are actually quite lighthearted and talkative. Turns out, they are rather social, but not at work. They might even be wild, flirty and hate the persona that they're forced to show at work, especially if they're a SternTeacher or DrillSergeantNasty. However, once they return to the workplace, they've returned to being as social and friendly as a rock.

* 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 get glimpses of each other's pasts due to Lag accidentally firing a Shindan, 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.

* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': Main lead Fuutarou Uesugi is hired as a PrivateTutor for the titular quintuplets. At first, he only views them as his source of income, but at he gets to know them more he starts to open more and care for them beyond that. After quitting and later being rehired as their tutor, [[OverprotectiveDad their father]] warns him against having any inappropriate relationships with them, which visibly unnerves him as he's aware of their feelings for him, and causes him to start distancing himself from the quintuplets.

* ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' Has a couple examples.
** 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.

[[folder: Live-Action Television]]

** 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 in to heal him after Michael and the crew grab him. She plays on his honor and wants 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.

* ''Series/TheYoungPope'': Lenny gathers his new papal staff together and announces that he has no interest in getting to know any of them or having any kind of personal relationship because it will get in the way of their duties. He also immediately fires his head cook for being too friendly. Over the course of the show, however, this is just one in many ways that Lenny contradicts himself, hiring his personal friends as advisers and forming personal relationships with assistants. In the first season finale, he gathers his staff together and says that he loves them.

* 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.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' and [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 its sequels]] will occasionally have you encounter trainers who are nurses and doctors, who will calmly heal your Pokémon and send you on your way. So long as you battle them first, since they're off-the-clock.

** 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.

** 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 comic book 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.

*** The college example can happen even sooner in a small school, where class sizes may only be less than one-hundred, or half of that.