{"id":32197,"date":"2020-08-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/be-a-professional\/"},"modified":"2024-01-17T12:02:34","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T12:02:34","slug":"be-a-professional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/success\/be-a-professional\/","title":{"rendered":"Be a Professional"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Little<\/a>What is a professional? Is it the opposite of an amateur?\r\n\r\n\r\nIn the sports world, professional athletes are paid, while amateurs are not. In my business, the title \u201cprofessional keynote speaker\u201d implies that I\u2019m paid to speak in front of audiences. So, does being a professional simply mean you\u2019re paid to do whatever it is you are doing?\r\n\r\nI\u2019ll answer that with a resounding, \u201cNo!\u201d It\u2019s definitely more than whether or not you are paid. I\u2019ll argue that \u201cprofessional\u201d can also refer to the way you conduct yourself. In other words, do you behave in a manner that others would perceive as professional?\r\n\r\nMy friend Paul Reilly<\/a>, a professional speaker (yep\u2026 another paid professional) specializing in value-added selling, shared a great story. As one of his first jobs out of college, Paul worked at Ferrellgas. One of his colleagues was writing a summary report and was using a dictionary to look up words. Paul was fascinated that this man would take time to look up words for what was considered an informal report. When Paul asked about it, his colleague said, \u201cIt may be informal, but that doesn\u2019t mean it shouldn\u2019t be professional.\u201d His idea of taking the report to a professional level was to have no misspellings.\r\n

A professional performance is always predictable<\/h3>\r\nI read an article penned by Dale Salwak in Linking Ring Magazine, the publication put out by the International Brotherhood of Magicians<\/a>. By the way, these magicians focus on entertainment rather than voodoo or witchcraft, in case you were concerned. Dale is a magician\u2014yes, a professional magician\u2014and one of the best. He learned from Neil Foster, another professional magician who was an amazing performer and an inspiring teacher. Neil had a great definition of being a professional: \u201cA professional just is, that\u2019s all. He or she knows what they are going to do, and they do just that.\u201d Neil goes on to say that a professional performance is always predictable.\r\n\r\nAfter doing a little research about being professional, I\u2019ve come to the conclusion that it\u2019s not about whether you are paid or not\u2014it\u2019s about your behavior. In my world of customer service, it\u2019s about how you act toward and treat others. It\u2019s about the empathy and compassion you have around your customers\u2019 needs. It\u2019s about how you respect those customers and, for that matter, your colleagues.\r\n\r\nProfessionals at every level and in any profession can behave and act appropriately. That\u2019s what makes their customers, colleagues and team members want to work with them. Being professional earns you respect. It builds trust. It creates a connection.\r\n\r\nThe best don\u2019t just act professional. They are<\/em> professional.\r\n\r\n\r\n
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