A Warrior without a King

I was born in the 60’s and grew up being taught to stick with the system.

If you work hard and follow the career model laid out by the system, the system will take care of you, and your family.

Now fast forward 50 years later, that “system” is rapidly disappearing.

A professional knows that you are your own boss.

You must figure out how to manage your career.

A Warrior without a King

A professional stands out with the craft she practices.

A craft needs to reach certain before other would consider it outstanding and unique.

Leveling up the craft obviously require investment in time and money.

A professional invests in her craft wisely, so she can maximize the change and impact the craft can make.

What are you investing in your work or practice?

What are you investing in making a difference, so you get better at it?

A Warrior without a King

James Taylor with his guitar.

Billy Joel with his piano.

Yo-Yo Ma with his cello.

Each one of these musicians is considered the top professional in their own instrument.

We have all been given one.

They picked up theirs and made history with what they were given.

Each of us has an instrument we can play with all our heart and all our soul to make a difference to support our family, and to make a ruckus.

A Warrior without a King

An amateur would take a feedback for improvement as a criticism.

A criticism that says, “You work is not good enough, so take it back and do a better job.”

That amateur might work on an improvement but still be thinking the feedback as an attack on his hard work.

A professional would take the same feedback and think deeply about the merits of the feedback.

Instead of responding to the criticism like the amateur did, the pro’s first instinct might be, “The feedback might give me an opportunity to allow my work to add even more value.”

Improvement is an opportunity. It is not a threat.

A Warrior without a King

A professional who has worked for more than a day has had bad things happen to her.

The bad thing could be self-inflicted or externally-inflicted.

What is more important is what you do with the situation afterward.

Are you going to do what Samsung did with their Notes 7 battery situation?

They tried to downplay the seriousness of the defect, blame other parties, did what is minimally possible in a hope that the whole thing will just go away.

Or do what a pro will do by accepting the responsibility, being transparent, and working visibly hard to restore the trust and confidence of her clients.

We can check who you are by what happens when things don’t look exactly the way you expected.