“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.”
Amateur, competent, professional. The amateur always props up this list. Unfair. Amateurs bring energy, passion, and conviction into whatever they do. Put your money away, it’s just for fun. It’s the taking part that counts. Kids are great examples. Getting their help with gardening or painting can create mayhem, carnage. Secretly though, parents love to see them get stuck in, quite literally when glue is involved! We think to ourselves, if only I could harness that energy and channel it…
How would you define professional? Perhaps the level of care, the attention to detail, the diligence? The fact they show up on time, regardless of how they feel, they know what to do, they bring the right skills and tools to do the best job. They expect to be paid, as the advert suggests, “because they are worth it”.
I’ve always found the word competent slightly insulting. I can’t imagine Tina Turner belting out “Simply Competent”. It suggests undervalued people whose experience of life has been such that their expectation and effort is permanently set at “whatever”. They can appear ‘emotionally disconnected’. They show up, do what they need to and go. I guess I’m conflicted here as I have been a card-carrying member of the “Competent” club.
So, what helped me tear up my membership and start thinking differently? The mind is a battlefield. As Robert Bolton said, “A belief is not merely an idea the mind possesses; it is an idea that possesses the mind.” It wasn’t easy. The mind is a powerful thing. It took time and patience to come to terms with things, but it has paid dividends.
The simple answer is people showed interest in me. They saw something I couldn’t, and took the time to listen, slowly unwrapping what they saw that I couldn’t. Over time this fresh perspective took over. I began to really enjoy what I was doing. As my enjoyment grew so did my confidence. I began to get better at it. People began inviting me to speak at events, passed my name to others, and the rest as they say is history.
A particular reason I am part of Stewardship Wealth is that one of our core values is to develop people, not jobs. We believe we can identify talent regardless of how well hidden it may be and draw it to the surface so everyone can see it. We have an established culture of encouragement and recognition. It has the habit of getting the best out of people. Personal growth, emotional maturity, professional achievement are all hallmarks of a positive work environment and quality leadership.
Amateur is a noble title. Competence is simply a milestone on the journey to professional, before you reach the treadmill of continuous professional development. You never achieve perfection; you simply get perfected along the way.
We are committed to supporting people, clients, staff, and local communities. We are delighted to be able to provide increased financial resources to local causes in the current crisis. As more clients engage with us, we can do more to support the growing needs in our community. We plan to release a more detailed report on our giving shortly. Thank you for your continuing support.