How to become a professional in any business. Who is a real professional?

In our society, to become successful person, you need to have professional knowledge and be able to use it.

Those involved in any field are divided into:

• beginners;
• professionals;
• masters

A beginner is just beginning to acquire knowledge and skills in a certain type of activity. He knows nothing or has minimal skills. Most people would like to have a teacher who helps the student develop in this direction.
A professional is a person who has achieved excellent results and capable of working fruitfully and successfully in a particular industry.

Not every professional strives to become a master. He can be satisfied with solving mastered problems. But every beginner strives to become a professional in his field.

The master has phenomenal abilities in the implementation of skills acquired during training and carried out professionally. To become a professional, it is enough to accumulate knowledge and work in the same direction. To become a master, you need to learn to go beyond boundaries and boundaries, to see emerging problems more broadly than a simple layman or even a professional.

There is a huge difference in professional approach and a beginner's approach. There are a few differences to note Special attention a beginner if he thinks it's time to become a professional .

1. Firstly, it is not typical for the latter to look for the easiest way to solve a problem. A professional is not inclined to expect a miracle or run after “glitter.” He understands that solutions are not ready-made. They must be accepted based on analysis, comparison, and research. Of course, in any area there are certain rules and trends. In life, situations are so unique that recommendations are not enough, and many related factors must be taken into account to make a decision.

1. A professional understands this very well. But a beginner has a different approach. He is eager to study the mechanisms and get ready-made algorithms to work with, so that everything happens as if by itself. But that doesn't happen. You will have to constantly improve your knowledge and skills. Otherwise, even after climbing professional level, but having stopped in development, a person will simply slide down to the level of a beginner. Life is constantly moving forward. New technologies appear, new ideas are implemented. If a person does not keep up with the times, he simply remains “on the sidelines.”

Beginner and professional: magic or patience and work

The second difference that distinguishes a professional is the presence of such traits as patience and perseverance. He knows exactly where, why and how he is going and understands how the path can stretch.
To implement the plans, he outlined the necessary resources, and more. Any plan is ideal, but in reality it will have to be changed and adjusted.
A professional realizes that the matter will not be accomplished easily. But he patiently and persistently moves in the chosen direction, taking into account unforeseen situations that arise along the way.

Can appear different problems. But there is a clear inner confidence that they will certainly be resolved.

Problems are treated differently. Taking it as a challenge makes solving it and living life in general much more interesting. It is not typical for a beginner to show patience. He wants everything at once. He believes that becoming a professional is easy . By magic, millions will “fall” right on your head, making you happy... This may upset some people, but this does not happen. It is known that even if by “accident” a person becomes fabulously rich, this will not bring happiness and there is a high probability that he will quickly lose his wealth.
Rather than dreaming about fabulous riches, it is better to move towards success gradually, showing diligence and making efforts. Then earnings will be perceived as deserved, and growing profits will be a natural result of recognition of a new level of professionalism. You need to be patient, diligent and stubborn. If these traits are not enough, a person will simply leave the race without reaching the professional level.

The third characteristic of a true professional is the ability to take responsibility. Newbie complains that no necessary conditions for implementation, someone is to blame for something, he did not find the necessary information on any issue, there was too little time.
A professional has a different approach. The emerging problem is studied, and solutions are immediately found taking into account various factors. He does not shift responsibility to circumstances. On the contrary, there is an understanding that he himself is the cause of what happens in life. Therefore, to really change something, you need to take responsibility.
It is useless to try to influence anyone, but you can change yourself. Then life around will gradually change the right side. That's why he makes decisions and takes responsibility. No one but him creates his life and truly influences it.

Of course, there are still many differences between a beginner and a professional. But, if a person starting to master his chosen field is based on at least three basic postulates and follows them, he will definitely reach a professional level.

Don't act like a beginner, jumping from place to place, shifting responsibility for your steps to someone else, or hoping for magical results that will appear “out of nowhere.” If you take this approach, you will most likely quickly become frustrated and abandon the activity. And such a zero result will remain only because you did not make the necessary efforts to make it positive and did not devote the proper time to studying the issue. Therefore, be patient, take everything into your own hands, and gradually, moving step by step, achieve your goals. As a beginner, act professionally and then you will become a real professional.

Master level

This is the next step beyond professionalism. As stated, not every professional strives to become a master. This is not to say that not everyone is capable of this. The potential lies within a person. And each of us is free and has the right to discover it in ourselves.

To become a master, professional skills and abilities are not enough. A broader understanding is needed that goes beyond narrow specialization. We are usually taught to acquire skills in some separate area. However, it is more correct to comprehend general method, universal for all areas of knowledge. That is, the main thing is not the acquisition of knowledge as such, but the way of perceiving and comprehending it in the integrity of being.
If a person is ready to move on and become a master, then necessary knowledge they will come to him themselves, helping him along the way. This does not mean that effort, patience and perseverance will no longer be needed. These qualities must be even more developed than those of a professional. The transition to this level will be even more difficult. It will become possible if not selfish goals are put at the forefront, but a holistic approach, in which the main thing becomes not the person himself and his skill, but the matter through which the world It gets at least a little better.

04.09.2018 18:08

A person’s motivation revolves around three things: skills, money and status (developed by Igor Mikhailovich Litvak and Boris Mikhailovich Litvak).

For top-class professionals and future top-class professionals, the main motivation is the acquisition of skills. It provides personal growth, and the number of skills increases. Maybe not so quickly, but then money and status come. Therefore, it is better to refrain from hiring a person who is interested in the social package and material benefits. Fortunately, in times of crisis, when there are fewer jobs than applicants, this is not difficult.

True, even now top-class workers are not looking for work. Their work is looking for. But now they can be found floating freely.

This is the problem of problems in our society. Unfortunately, we are a society of amateurs. It’s hard to find a professional in any industry here. Each of you can tell how mechanics, tailors, cooks, painters, and plasterers let him down. How many of you have not purchased products that did not meet the qualities advertised? That is why, despairing of finding professionals, many people (I mean even wealthy people) cook, repair plumbing, hang wallpaper, and even undergo treatment themselves. But science has nothing to do with it. She is very highly developed in all areas. All specialties are at a very high level of development and continue to develop rapidly.

The fact is that we have very few professionals, even among those who can do something sensible. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to judge professionalism by a person’s diploma, scientific degrees, categories, etc. And if you encounter bad specialist, then don't criticize him. Try to get rid of it.

Almost all textbooks and manuals, depicting the image of a professional, give a number of requirements, in addition to the requirement to possess a set of skills in their field. They also presuppose a number of personal qualities that may not be necessary for persons of average qualification, but are extremely necessary for a top-class professional. As an example, I will give a list of characteristics that should be included in the appearance of a modern professional.

A professional must be at the same time both a citizen and a public figure. It doesn’t take long to look for examples: doctor Roshal, actress Pugacheva, writer Solzhenitsyn, hockey player Fetisov, others. In addition, he must have broad education(I would say a great general education), highly moral basis of motives. Professional usually authoritative, has personal charm, modest, optimistic, truthful, fair, honest, selfless, humane, good with words.

From textbook to textbook, quotes from Anton Pavlovich Chekhov pass on that “a specialist must be mentally clear, morally pure and physically tidy.” I would also add to this that a professional must be prosperous and happy man. You can evaluate how well a professional masters one or another method in his specialty, but how to measure honesty, citizenship, a highly moral basis of motives, truthfulness, etc.? That is why the division of the qualities of a top-class professional into professional and personal is very arbitrary.

So first I want to talk about professionalism in general.

I would classify professionalism as personal qualities. Professional skills are sometimes acquired quite slowly, but professionalism can be developed much faster. Professional I call someone who knows his professional capabilities, constantly improves them and never acts outside the scope of his competence. Therefore, in life you can meet both a professional - a novice specialist, and an amateur professor. I know one very good psychiatrist who occupies a prominent position. Everything would be fine if he had not yet pretended to be a neurologist. They did not say this to his face, but laughed behind his back and expressed doubts about his psychiatric knowledge.

I half-jokingly and half-seriously say that I am a professional, and in all areas of human knowledge: I am a professional driver, a professional neurosurgeon, a professional singer (the list can go on and on) and a professional psychotherapist. And here is my evidence. I didn't have a single accident, but I never got behind the wheel. I haven't messed up a single neurosurgery, but I've never tried to do one. I'm a professional singer because I've never let a rooster fly off the stage, but I've never sung from the stage. My experience with psychotherapy and psychology is worse: sometimes there are failures. Either I will overestimate my capabilities, or I will overestimate the client’s capabilities. But every unsuccessful case for me is a reason for deep analysis. In the end, I either develop new methods, or transfer my ward to more qualified specialist. To be honest, I do the latter with pain in my heart. But the client’s interests are more important to me personally. And so that my heart doesn’t hurt, I go to study with a colleague. And, of course, I hone specific techniques.

Thus, professionals can be divided into two categories:

• extra-class professional;
• growing professional.

The difference between them is not fundamental, because a growing professional will definitely become a top-class professional - it’s only a matter of the number of skills. But their prices differ significantly. Of course, it’s good to see a professional at work, but you can also spot him at social events and rituals. Try to talk to him about a professional topic. He will willingly do it. If he does not want or avoids talking about professional topics, think about whether he is a professional, because a professional lives by his profession and he is always interested in talking about it, especially since he understands it. Listening to him, you want to quit your profession, if you are not a professional yourself, and take up his profession.

Some signs of a top-class professional from this point of view:

1. A professional always treats his colleague with respect and will never offer his services unless asked, but will never refuse help if requests are made.

2. A professional promptly and willingly resorts to the help of his colleagues and easily speaks of his incompetence in matters where he is incompetent.

3. A professional never promises a 100% guarantee of success, but only guarantees that he will make every effort. After all, the outcome of the case depends not only on the professional, but also on the efforts of the partners. A professional in his field tries to specialize as much as possible. He has a "trick". He knows how to do something that no one else can do. When I was practicing medicine, I could treat two diseases like no one else in the area. I don’t name it, because I don’t intend to return to medical activities.

4. A professional is constantly learning. Studying is actually renewal. After all, when we add a new, albeit in small quantity, ingredient to a dish, the taste of the entire dish changes.

5. A professional knows colleagues whose level of professional skills is higher than his.

6. A professional will refuse a case if he knows that someone does it better, if he knows that he cannot help the client, or if someone will do it better than him. So I wrote the monograph “Epilepsy” together with Valentina Savelyevna Kovalenko. But it makes the selection of medications for epilepsy better. And if I came across such a sick person, I would send him to her. And she referred to me patients with epilepsy who still needed psychotherapeutic influence.

My dear reader, I am telling you everything for you. You only need to find one professional. He will find the rest you need. Professionals know each other. Recruitment agencies also know where professionals are found. The same is true for other industries. Find one qualified mason and he will provide you with qualified painters, tilers, plumbers and others.

7. Already during the first conversation, the professional warns the client that he has the right to refuse his services if he stops trusting him.

8. The professional only takes funds for current expenses as an advance payment. He is confident in his work and understands people.

9. A professional is physically healthy, financially sufficiently secure and happy in personal life. The higher the level of professionalism, the easier a person does his job, the better the results, the more positive emotions, the better his health. Many prominent professionals improved their health and lived long, fruitful lives as their professional qualifications grew.

10. A professional is someone who not only masters a craft himself, but can also teach it to others. This quality is necessary in order not to be afraid of being alone. If this happens, then you can prepare assistants yourself. Therefore, ask if he has any students. As a rule, a professional develops his own techniques and usually presents them in brochures or books. Or at least find out who he studied with and read the works of his teacher. And to put it all in short: a professional knows himself.

11. The professional has a broad general education. I once heard, I don’t remember where, one remark. A woman was asked why she was so smart. She replied that this was due to the fact that, in addition to higher education There is also an average.

It is easy to communicate with a professional, because he is complex and can adapt to any client. He does not have a distinct hobby. His profession is his hobby. Due to the great general education he feels great in any society and in any life situation he finds something useful for his professional improvement. A person who is difficult to communicate is extremely primitive, and it is difficult to adapt to him. If it is possible to avoid communicating with him, then it is better to do it quickly.

12. When working, a professional’s movements are smooth. It even gives the impression of some slowness. But due to the absence of unnecessary movements, it works quickly. There is no excessive tension in the body, the voice is low, and velvety basic notes can be heard. The rate of speech most likely depends on temperament. But even if a professional speaks quickly due to choleric temperament, there is no feeling of haste and fuss.

These provisions are useful to know not only for managers, but also for young specialists. Then they will willingly resort to the help of their more experienced colleagues, will not take on what they do not yet know how to do, will learn what they cannot do, and, ultimately, already in the first years of their professional activity will, from the point of view of benefit to the business, be high-class professionals. If all young specialists adhered to these rules, we would have much fewer unfinished, neglected cases. Then they will quickly become professionals, who will eventually turn into top-class professionals.

Actually, I want to repeat once again that being a professional is not a specialty, but a way of life. And if a professional himself does not correspond to the principles he speaks about, then it is better not to deal with him. And if a person is not professional or does not want to become a professional, then, by and large, he cannot be considered a human being.

Choosing a specialist is a difficult matter, especially if you are not a professional yourself. I cannot say which specialist you should choose. But I want to tell you which specialist you should avoid:

First of all, if your soul doesn’t belong to him, then you shouldn’t deal with him. You will always have pronounced emotional stress. You will question all his words and actions. Internal tension will develop, which will negate everything positive that comes from the specialist.

But if a specialist arouses your sympathy, this does not mean that you need to immediately begin cooperation with him. After this, you should still think a little.

If a specialist is too autocratic, insists on fulfilling all his requirements without explaining their meaning, then I doubt that he will bring you significant benefit, even if his advice and recommendations are correct.

If a specialist makes it an absolute condition for you to visit only him, then it is better not to deal with him. This means that he does not trust you, your mind, your ability to distinguish one from the other. Even if you feel better with another specialist, then, of course, the professional will be offended, but he will be offended at himself, but will be happy for you.

If a specialist claims that only he knows this method and only he can help, then this should raise doubts in you. At best, he is a conscientiously delusional person, at worst, a charlatan.

A few more caveats. Don't expect radical actions and quick improvements from a professional, although they can sometimes happen. A professional always works for the future.

In general, if in the process of your contacts with a professional your life begins to resemble a ladder along which you are constantly climbing, then we can say that everything is going fine. It's an upward climb, as if you were walking up a mountain. And even if you slide, you slide forward - that is, you have troubles that simply could not have happened before.

But if in the process of your contacts with a professional you go in circles or even go down and roll back, then it is better to part with such a specialist.

Don't take anything for granted. If you do not understand his actions, it is better to refuse his services. Don't strain to understand it. It is his sacred duty to make sure that you understand him. “Truth is not in the words of the speaker, but in the ears of the listener,” the ancients said. The sacred duty of a professional is to make you understand the methods with which he influences you or which he invites you to use in the process. independent work. You must clearly understand the end results of the work, the signs by which you will recognize progress, and the time when the job will be done.

A professional is not afraid to teach others. After all, in the process of teaching others, you yourself begin to understand your profession more deeply and can come up with something new, while your followers continue to do something that has become uninteresting to a professional.

Now a few more words to employers.

Workers can be rude, sadistic explorers, money-grubbers, ignoramuses and angels. We'll talk about the first four below. But it is angels who need to be feared most of all. After all, there are no angels. Try to find something human in him, some shortcomings. And if you fail, then stop communicating with him. This means his behavior is unnatural. You will be deeply disappointed in the future.

If at the first meetings a professional irritates you, you don’t agree with many things, at times he seems either acquisitive, sometimes ignorant, sometimes sadistic, sometimes rude, but he awakens your thoughts, makes you object to him, and you are interested in him - stay around him a little . Then you will see its advantages, which outweigh all its disadvantages. It turns out that this is not money-grubbing, but necessary requirements related to production technology. Apparent sadism and rudeness are associated with a reluctance to waste extra time. And what seems to you ignorance is due to hyper-focus on your specialty. Remember Sherlock Holmes, who was almost completely ignorant in matters that did not concern his specialty. Moreover, soon you simply won’t notice them. But if there are only these shortcomings, then it is better to get rid of such employees or not hire them.

They know what they can and cannot do, and they are constantly trying to improve their level and move forward and upward. Don't ask people you hire about height claims. A normal employee has one dream - to take your place. This person will do a good job. But if you are a normal leader, then this will not upset you. In the end, a promotion awaits you, you will also grow, and when you leave your previous place of work, you will want to transfer your institution into good hands. A young professional will master management skills in a few years and will be able to replace you when you get promoted.

The only question is how to find a growing professional. The best time to look for him is when he is still in his second year at the institute (they often leave the first year). The selection should be entrusted to the teachers of the university where the student is studying. There they teach him not just his chosen specialty, for example electrical engineering, but they teach him how to work specifically at your enterprise. Over several years of focused study, he turns into a full-fledged professional and after graduation no longer needs pre-sale training, like many graduates of our institutes. When he goes to work, he gets a position, a decent salary and housing. The costs are worth it. And I'm not fantasizing. I personally know the head of such an enterprise in St. Petersburg.

There are very few growing professionals. But they exist. I would like to describe their symptoms:

Outwardly, they are invisible, do not participate in student parties, and do not go to discos and nightclubs. But they attend student clubs, where they study to the best of their ability scientific work. Some manage to prepare a dissertation work, part of which is their thesis research. They know in advance where they want to work and where they will work after graduation. Moreover, they try to work there during the holidays and in their free time from school. Usually on future work they are already waiting. Missing skills are quickly gained as work progresses. And again I’m not telling you fairy tales, but real facts. Not very often, but this happened during my work in Rostov medical university that by the end of their studies our students also mastered practical skills. But since, according to the law, they could not be registered for permanent work, they, while formally studying with us in residency or internship, actually worked in a medical institution, as if in practice, and were only registered with us. They didn't need graduate school.

What is needed to achieve results? Is it possible to constantly progress in any activity or skill? How to become better? Nowadays, a widespread opinion has already become an axiom: in order to become a super-professional in any business, you need to spend about 10,000 hours of time practicing it. It is indicated that this is approximately 10 years of life. Although if you do the math, I ended up with 10,000 / 24 = 417 days of round-the-clock practice. Of course, this is unrealistic, so if we do something full time, 8 hours, then it turns out 417 * 3 = 1251 days without holidays and weekends. This is approximately 3.5 years. If we take a standard year, consisting of approximately 250 working days, then it is already 5 years. Well, when the time spent is reduced, for example, to 4 hours every working day, the required 10 years finally come out.

It turns out that according to the “10,000 hours” rule, it is enough to work continuously in any field for about 5-7 years to become one of the best in this topic. Super professional. Why doesn't this happen? Or even this: why does this happen so rarely?

Anyone who doesn’t know what this rule is can read about it in detail with many different facts and success stories, or read Malcolm Gladwell's book Geniuses and Outsiders.

Neurologist Daniel Levitin writes: “The picture that emerges from numerous studies is that, no matter what the field, it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve a level of proficiency commensurate with world-class expert status. In studies of composers, basketball players, writers, speed skaters, pianists, chess players, hardened criminals, and so on, this number appears with surprising regularity. Ten thousand hours is equivalent to about three hours of practice per day, or twenty hours per week for ten years. This, of course, does not explain why some people benefit from exercise more than others. But no one has yet come across a case where the highest level of skill was achieved in less time. It seems like that’s how long it takes the brain to absorb all the information it needs.”

I first started thinking about this topic a couple of years ago, and it was connected with Argentine tango. In our Nizhny Novgorod I came to social tango almost with its appearance in the city. Therefore, I see and know everyone in this community. The first years, of course, were literally oversaturated, filled with novelty, everything was cool and a wonder. However, over time, the impressions settle down, you begin to see more, a more voluminous picture. And ask different questions. For example: why does some people’s dance not change for the better over the years, either in an embrace or when observed from the side? Do you really need to dance for 40 years, like the notorious “old milongueros”, in order to become enlightened without studying, to comprehend Zen on the dance floor? And in general, will these 40 years help, because judging by the stories of those who have already made a “pilgrimage” to Buenos Aires, the number of good dancers (as far as I understand, regardless of age) is several times smaller than everyone else. And finally, a seditious thought - the same old or not so old, but highly titled milongueros, in my personal opinion, could often look much better: yes, they are probably divine in an embrace, but in 40 years I think one could learn not to clubfoot, not contort the body or casually use more variations in steps and elements (the same unmatched front cross of the girl on her left side). Then video shooting for dummies appears, you look at yourself from the outside and wonder more interesting question: figs with them, with others, but why am I not progressing despite the colossal investment of money, time and effort??

Why the 10,000 hour rule doesn't work

I have already written a little on this topic earlier (). However, for some reason I was struck again after reading the article “Debunking the 10,000 Hour Myth: What Does It Really Take to Achieve a Level of Extra-Perfection?” . The text is in English, and besides, access is blocked by the state registry - intriguing, right? But as a real programmer, this didn’t stop me. :o) By the way, if anyone is interested in how to bypass such things, write, if there are a lot of requests, maybe I’ll write a separate note on this topic.

Attention

So, according to this article, the 10,000 hour rule does not work on its own. That is, you can go to work, for example, to the library, every single day for 20 years in a row, and still not become the coolest librarian in the world, country, or even city district. Okay, you say, this is boring! And—no offense to all the good librarians out there—you’d be right. Indeed, the most important factor in any practice is not the time spent on it, but attention. Even so ATTENTION. Carrying out the same actions without bringing your full attention to it gives practically nothing as a result, no progress. And the only real source of maintaining such attention: pure, genuine interest in what you are doing. Important not quantity hours spent on the lesson, and their .

So I have bad news for those who are going to take up a job that is boring for them, become a doctor in a private clinic, a lawyer or a programmer just because they pay a lot good professionals- nothing will work out for you. Yes, the top professionals in these areas get really big money. But firstly, you won’t become such a pro, and the salary of a beginner or an average person in these professions is not so different from the salary of a beginner or an average person in others. And secondly, top pros get paid a lot in any field. Yes, maybe not as much, but also very decent. If you enjoy washing floors, it’s better to go work as a cleaner or janitor - I won’t be surprised when you can eventually found a cool cleaning company.


And one more thing about attention. It is possible to cause and maintain such a thing artificially, but it is extremely energy-consuming. If there is no keen interest caused by some need or want, you will not be able to keep your attention on the subject, let alone 8 hours - 5 minutes straight. Speaking about need, I mean this thing: remember some of the most boring lessons at school or lectures at the institute. For example, I naturally slept on some objects, although my sleep is very restless and in general it’s not easy for me to fall asleep even at home in the evening, let alone in a stuffy room. bright room with a bunch of strangers. All because I didn’t need these lectures at all. It's incredibly boring to be forced to listen to things that are of no use to you anywhere. Now watch a man in love looking at his beloved. Or a cat hunting a pigeon. Is he attentive? Are you interested? What are we talking about! It is simply embodied attention. :o) Is it difficult for him to maintain his interest? Of course no. Everything happens automatically because it is determined by the presence of a need or need that is crying out for itself (for example, hunger).


In fact, you don't have to become a cat starving for your business. :o) Although this speeds up is fantastic, it is enough that you like the process (not just the result!), it brings you joy, satisfaction and other positive emotions.

Okay, you say, I love tango. I have 20 pairs of shoes and a closet of clothes, for the last 3 (4, 5, 6...) years I have been spending all my earnings on lessons and festivals, disappearing to milongas every evening, where I don’t sit, chatting and listening to music, but dance almost all the tandas. Why am I still not Arce (Chicho, Godoy, Great Pupkini)? To begin with, let's discard the fact that 3 years is not enough for this level - they have been working since childhood or for many years, every day - while you are working, and in the evening at the same dances. And there's another one interesting thing concerning attention. The article provides an example of learning to drive a car. When you are just learning, the process of driving a car takes up all your attention completely; every time you think about which pedal to press, where to turn the steering wheel or stick the handle (we are not considering an automatic). Over time, you gain enough experience, the body already “itself” knows how to react to typical situations, this does not require constant support from consciousness. The action moves into the realm of habit, routine. And the attention goes away. And along with it comes the development of skills. That is, upon reaching a certain satisfying or “good enough” level of mastery, the skill tends to go into the background. Which is very reasonable and rational - if you are not a professional driver and do not want to become one, it is stupid to spend so much effort and attention on such a utilitarian skill in Everyday life. However, if we are talking about the work of your whole life, it is worth periodically monitoring the achievement of such a “plateau” in development and returning your attention to actions that you are already very good at doing. To learn how to make them even better.

Feedback

Second the most important factor development: availability feedback. All top athletes have a personal trainer. All successful people in any field, in one way or another, have a personal coach or mentor. Or a partner, an ally, giving this precious feedback.

Feedback is needed primarily to correct errors. You yourself or someone else, preferably with great expertise in this matter, should look at you and tell you what and how can be corrected and improved. However, that's not all. At one of the seminars I heard the term “feedback” High Quality" What it is? In fact, we often receive a lot of feedback, but in a form that is difficult to digest: criticism, insults, scolding, and the like. And we are rarely, or very little, told when we are doing something really great. The main feature of high-quality feedback is the availability of information about what we are doing well. This supports and saves a lot of time, since often we start fixing what is already in excellent condition, simply because it seems to us that “everything is bad.”


The second feature is that information about errors is presented in the most “nutritious” form. That is, not “a lousy performance”, but “it was clear that you were not prepared enough, took too long pauses, did not get into the music, your partner was hanging over your partner” or instead of “Why are you some kind of crap...” you need say “your weight is not enough for your height and constitution, you need to increase muscle mass, especially on your legs and strengthen your back,” or advise “you need to speak louder, look into the room more often, ask people questions, hold your hands like this” instead of the completely vague “the lecture was so-so.” It seems to me that almost everyone would like to learn about their disadvantages in such a correct, productive form. If you are already “upgraded” to psychologically, then it is quite possible to extract the information you need from the “critic” by asking him the right questions.

Optimal ratio

Despite the calculations at the beginning of the article, it is difficult to imagine a person doing something with unflagging attention for 8 hours straight. Frankly speaking, this is unrealistic. Even with great interest, attention, especially concentrated attention, is a limited resource. In other words, it's energy-intensive. Using the method of scientific poking, the most productive number of hours of practice in terms of price-quality ratio was approximately determined: about 4 hours a day (in the original article, powerlifters and pianists are given as examples). It seems that this is the ratio that allows you to maintain an optimal level of concentration and, accordingly, optimal returns from training/practice. However, it seems to me, like any “hospital average”, each person should adjust this situation to suit themselves and their capabilities. Some people will give 200% in an hour, so don’t worry, mom, but others need 6-7 hours to really get tired and feel satisfied.

Hack the mechanism

Although there is a very well documented fact about 10,000 hours of practice, it is quite possible that this is not all-encompassing information. There may be exceptions. Or something you don't see or don't know. You understand, I couldn’t help but be interested in the project show of the already world famous Tim Ferriss, the author of an amazing book

How to acquire happiness? These questions can be safely put on a par, because they determine the quality of our life and do not allow it to pass into ordinary existence.

Competent people

People who are well versed in this or that issue have always been respected and respected, people turn to them, they are advised to their relatives, friends and acquaintances. They rarely look for work; rather, work finds them on its own. Such individuals are worth their weight in gold.

Competence is a quality that you cannot be born with. This is the result of acquiring knowledge, experience, training and other efforts on oneself. If a person does not work on himself, prefers to be inert and closed, then, consequently, he has low level life.

Have general idea you can talk about many things, but you can only become truly competent in one area. As a rule, people who strive for knowledge and try to learn something new every day different areas life, cannot become true professionals in their field. Professionalism and true competence are the ability to dig in depth, not in breadth.

Knowing the general ideas is great, but when we get to the surgeon, we want him to know the anatomy, and not just the general ideas.

Artificial intelligence

IN modern world many mathematical and various mechanical work can be performed by a robot. Computers can store so much information, and it is so structured, that the human brain cannot compete with them.

As for mathematics, computers are the best professionals of your business. People who, several decades ago, could calculate the sums of four-digit terms and find the difference between numbers were considered geniuses and professionals. Now the need for such talent has sharply decreased.

But there are areas of life in which artificial intelligence cannot surpass man - this is art. A computer can create something qualitatively new only with human hands.

Also, artificial intelligence is weak in matters of psychology and what concerns the emotional sphere of a person. Professionalism must be appropriate and useful for a particular era.

Concept of the term

The ability to perform one’s work efficiently and skillfully at any time, under any conditions and in any condition is called professionalism. Let me explain. If you draw, sing or dance well only when a muse visits you, then you can be called capable, but it’s too early to be a professional.

To become a master, you need not only to improve in this or that task, but also to work on your strong-willed inclinations: suppress sleep when fatigue knocks you down, endure pain even when it interferes with the direct execution of the task, etc.

They concern not only the muting of your physical and moral states, but also the rapid adaptation to external conditions. Remember the brilliant violinist Niccolo Paganini, who played his “Caprice” on one string, as the rest broke during the performance.

Levels of Professionalism

There are five main levels of professionalism:

• pre-professionalism;
• professionalism;
• super professionalism;
• unprofessionalism;
• post-professionalism.

Pre-professionalism

Any person who dreams of becoming a master of his craft, a professional, goes through this stage. It is characterized by familiarization with a certain type of work, mastering the rules, norms, concepts, nuances and other mandatory components. This level of professional development is distinguished by its complexity and necessity, but at the same time ineffectiveness.

Pre-professionalism can be observed in trainees, young professionals or newcomers in any field of activity. This is that wonderful time when you are forgiven for your mistakes and mistakes, this is the moment when you can and should fill your own bumps and learn from the shortcomings of not only others, but also your own.

Oddly enough, the more mistakes a person makes at this stage, the more professional he will be in the future. The main thing is not to be disappointed in yourself and not to stop trying.

Professionalism

High-quality experts, professionals in their field, first master the norms and rules of their profession at a high level. They work according to a pattern and do their work diligently and well.

Having reached this level, a person feels like a part of the profession; based on his experience, he can see other ways to solve certain problems that are not spelled out in the statutes; he can contribute, in turn, and is distributed into sublevels.

How to determine if you have at least achieved entry level professionalism? If you can effectively train newcomers, that is, tell them about the specifics of a job or profession, introduce them to the main problems they may encounter, teach them an algorithm for performing certain actions, etc., then you have already achieved something in your business.

Super professionalism

This is the highest level of professionalism that any sane person dreams of achieving. It is possible to reach it only when a person grows beyond the confines of his profession. He is not only on top level can do his job, but knows how to make a revolution in his native field of activity.

Such a person is full of unique ideas. These people no longer think about how to do their job, but about how to change this area human activity for the better. They begin to treat even a non-creative profession creatively.

It is these individuals who are at the helm of global progress; they move many sciences forward, create revolutionary products and try in every possible way to make this world a better place. Their names go down in history.

Such individuals perceive the world differently. Some, looking out the window, see the landscape behind it, others - window frame, the third - tulle. Super-professionals have excellent “vision” in all three registers and know how to switch in time. They also master a number of related professions or sciences.

Unprofessionalism

Non-professionals are people who are quite long time work in any field, but still have not been able to reach heights, master in sufficiently skills, master the rules, etc.

Most likely, these individuals do not have the necessary talents and abilities; perhaps they have chosen the wrong profession for themselves.

Lack of professionalism is not a sentence, but, on the contrary, an indicator that a person is trying himself in different areas and is in search. If this lasts for years or decades, then the problem needs to be solved.

You must initially choose those professions in which you will be effective and useful to society, in which your development will take place with great pleasure, and not under the threat of dismissal.

Often non-professionals stay at their jobs because they are satisfied with the salary, schedule, prestige, conditions, team, so they carefully hide their unprofessionalism behind hyperactivity in the workplace. They spend more time and effort not on personal improvement, but on creating the appearance of their work.

Post-professionalism

People who have lived to retirement age reach this level. In the past, they were sought-after experts and know exactly how to become professionals in their field. Some share their experience with the younger generation, remaining constant gurus in their field, thereby further enhancing their professionalism.

Everyone lives this period of life differently: some continue to improve and mentor, while others acquire new hobbies and also achieve great success.

Professionals - smart people, and smart people live longer, since their brains are more plastic, and their neural connections are stronger, which means their brains are of higher quality. And this is the very organ that controls the entire body.

Stages of professionalism

You can define the following:

1. Adaptation stage. This is the period of entering the profession, becoming familiar with the basic rules, methods, problems, techniques and techniques. The first year or two a person adapts to new role performer. Studying is the process of absorbing knowledge, and work is the process of reproducing it in practice. This stage is often painful, and for some people it lasts for years.
2. Self-actualization. Having felt himself in the profession, a person develops his own handwriting, style and algorithm of actions, he already knows about his strengths, learned to smooth out the weak. At this stage, the personality develops through the means of the profession.
3. Fluency. At this level, a person has mastered all the norms and rules of his profession, familiarized himself with all kinds of problems and their solutions. Carrying out your direct responsibilities no longer requires much effort.

How to be a professional?

Here are some tips:

1. Don't be afraid of failure. As a rule, success is achieved by those who do not dwell on their failures, but, on the contrary, rejoice at them. Any defeat has great amount the necessary information that cannot be obtained unless you accidentally miss. We need to draw conclusions and forget negative emotions- they slow down the process of professional growth.
2. People who are professionals in their field plan their day. To do this, use a diary, organizer or special smartphone applications. If a person is serious about his future, he values ​​time more than any other resource.
3. Ability to prioritize. Some matters require a very urgent solution, others can wait, and others do not matter at all. A true professional knows how to correctly assess a situation.
4. If you work in the “people-to-people” field, then respect and attention to people is the key to success. If you have to negotiate, communicate, serve, teach, treat, etc., you need to be as friendly as possible, because a positive emotional exchange gives strength and energy for further professional development.
5. Systematicity plays a big role in acquiring the necessary experience. If you do your work with some regularity, you can achieve great success even in those areas in which you seemed to be an absolute amateur.
6. You need to love what you do. When a person enjoys work, he works more efficiently and at lower costs.

Professionals in their field

There can be many examples, because a huge number of professionals work in the shadows, but it is thanks to them that we ride escalators, walk on smooth roads, wear beautiful clothes, use the latest gadgets, listen to great music, arrive on time by plane, etc.

All the benefits of civilization that we have the opportunity to observe and use every day were created by the hands of true professionals.

It is thanks to individuals with innate perfectionism and the desire for ideality that we know so many famous and worthy brands and trust them, we have the opportunity to watch and admire enchanting shows.

Professionals and competent people are always valued; they are heard, spoken and in the mind as a reference point. They look up to them, learn from them, imitate them, consult with them and never cease to respect them.

A musician who can play a piece on one string when the rest have burst, athletes who perform at world competitions with broken legs, arms or spine, a pilot who makes an emergency landing somewhere in the taiga, a doctor who operates for thirty hours straight - these are super-professionals , and as long as there are people on earth who know how to devote themselves to their profession, humanity is not under threat.

In the modern world, being unprofessional is tantamount to disaster. But we must not forget that acquiring professionalism requires at least 10,000 hours of painstaking work.

Parallel between professionalism and personal interest

A man lives for himself. This is a long-known truism, which for some reason many people try to interpret differently. After all, how is it possible to live only for yourself, it smacks of complete selfishness!

But alas, there is only personal interest. There is no interest in your favorite business, your children, your homeland, friends or society. In truth, when a person says this, he is actually camouflaging either his words (he’s just lying) or he doesn’t see his consciousness (he doesn’t understand what’s what).

It is impossible to help your family, loved ones, or your business without properly understanding your behavior, motivation, desires and abilities. Without knowing what personal resources I have, there is no understanding of what I can offer to other people. This is the same thing when they say that a person cannot love another person without loving himself.

But if the personality has revealed itself, it knows its pros and cons, then there is an understanding of what and how it can bring into this world. What benefits can it give to people around you, how to strengthen your family, bring happiness to relationships with the opposite sex.

Why did I bring up the topic of understanding being oneself? It’s simple - the master always knows what he is, where his weaknesses are, what he is strong at, what else needs to be worked on personally and professionally. And it doesn’t matter in what field he is a pro - a carpenter, a teacher, a mother, a parent or a life partner.

Personal and selfless interest

In my opinion, there is no need to confuse these concepts, although for many they may have the same meaning in different situations. The difference between selfless and personal actions is quite clear. In the first case, we do something good for someone without demanding anything in return. In the second, our actions have a clear goal, which we are trying to achieve while receiving something in return.

Moreover, a selfless act is never calculated in advance - no reward is expected for it, but there is an understanding that everything was done well and someone will benefit from it. The personal one is always aimed at rewarding oneself, most often in the form of obtaining some skills, opportunities or resources.

Therefore, when someone reproaches me for doing something good to me, but I, such a “pig”, did not react positively to this, I immediately wonder if this “good thing” was done to me unselfishly. After all, if you are disinterested, there will be no reproach. And if it’s for self-interest, then I try to settle accounts with this person, after which I avoid contact with him for a long time (and more often, forever), so as not to receive another “good” favor.

Who is he, this master with a capital letter?

So, in my opinion, it is a person’s personal interest that is responsible for the formation and development of a professional. If he wants to become a master, he will become one.

But how do you understand whether this is a professional (beginner or established) or an ordinary person? I will try to describe the signs by which a master of his craft is easily identified.

Professional motivation

The first thing is motivation. This is what drives a person to become better in some area. human activity or several at once. In my opinion, this is about acquiring new and improving old skills. In this case, psychologists say that a person works on himself, he ensures his personal growth.

And having skills, other opportunities arise - better communication and interaction with work colleagues/friends/relatives, a higher salary, increased status in society, etc. A true professional is always valued much more than an ordinary employee.

The same can be said about close relationships. If, for example, a husband develops himself personally, his wife, children, and parents benefit from this. Which automatically affects him! I have not yet seen situations where good husband When communicating with my woman respectfully and competently, I received a negative reaction in the long term.

There is such a law of life: you change, and the people around you change. If you change with a minus sign, you get the same negative quality of relationships from your loved ones. You grow as a plus - new opportunities open up, the people around you open up with best sides. But only in our time few people change, many are waiting for something...

Broad education

Many may argue with this point, but I will still explain my point of view. Here we are not talking about the number of completed higher educational institutions. I'm about how a person gets new information and what he does with her. A true pro reads a lot, watches training videos, and listens to advice from experts in his profession. And then he methodically practices the acquired knowledge. And he doesn’t sit still and assume that tomorrow he will do such and such. You need to do it right away.

The same applies to professional growth, for example, in marital responsibilities. I’m not going to talk about sex now—let’s take the topic of raising children. It’s one thing to give up on everything and hope that the child will grow up on his own or that kindergarten teachers will competently introduce him into a new life.

No, a professional parent must independently or with the help of competent teachers learn to raise their child. After all, this is his child, what other people’s hands are we talking about, when it is your hands that should open the little man. And don’t shift such a difficult task onto your grandparents’ shoulders. This is your child! 🙂

In our modern times there are many opportunities to get the necessary adequate and useful information on almost any issue, be it work, family or everyday life. As they say - eat, I don’t want to!

But alas, some people don’t want to learn, receive new information (they’re waiting for freebies), some don’t know how to study (their parents didn’t imbibe this skill with milk, they didn’t show by example how to do it, etc.), and someone does not consider this important in life (opportunists often think so).

When I was a teenager, it was very difficult to find an intelligent book about the world around us, psychology, communication, or developing one’s skills. I still have the book “Advice to a Young Couple,” published in 1974. And there's a lot in it useful information not only for newlyweds, but also for already established married men and women.

Now everything is there, you just read and implement the acquired knowledge - this is the slogan I would draw in any modern library. 🙂

Competence

A professional knows perfectly well what he is capable of, what he should strive for and what hinders him in his work. Their profs. He constantly improves his capabilities and skills, and in his work he is always responsible for his activities.

If he messes up, he takes responsibility and corrects everything silently. If he sees that he needs help as part of his work, he will help without any problems (but only if the client does not refuse it).

The same is true in personal relationships with friends and loved ones. If you mess up, fix the situation yourself. If you doubt anything, don't bother. If they don’t ask, don’t do “great” feats.

To remain always competent, it is not enough to study your field of activity (work, family, etc.) a lot. You need to understand the limits within which you can help 100%, and always remember about responsibility. And in general, the law of life (Did good - received good, did evil, received - evil) has not been canceled.

System of life values

A true professional in his work or in other areas of his presence always has his own core - a value system. He understands what is “bad” and what is “good”. He always has his own opinion on current events, he has his own answer to them, but he can also be flexible to the answers of other people according to the situation.

The main goal of the master is to get a result, preferably a positive one. But even an answer with a minus sign will give him food for thought, which will allow him in the future not to step on the already tested rake. And this can only be possible if you have a clear idea of ​​where you are going, what you want, what methods there are for this and how they are interpreted in modern morality.

A person without a system will never be able to achieve 100% results - he will always be pulled into different sides, sometimes giving the opposite result to which he strives. It's like a sailboat without a sail - where the wind blows, the boat will be dragged there. And having set the sail, you can already sail in a given direction and achieve results.

I think there is no need to specify that the system life values professional includes such concepts as honesty, truthfulness, justice, humanity and others important qualities highly moral person!

Master's skills at work

In my opinion, I have described the most important skills of a professional. Now, briefly, in the form of a list, I will remind you of the attitudes that a master has in his daily work (in his personal life they also occur, but are described in different words). So, professional:

• Able to clearly convey information to the client . If you don't know how to communicate, then they will big problems interaction with the boss and his representatives.
• Healthy, takes care of himself, calm and balanced . A specialist who is nervous, sleep deprived, and has neglected his own well-being is not effective at work.
• Able to transfer his knowledge to another person . Being a teacher is a very difficult, time-consuming and expensive task, but necessary for a master.
• Good at understanding people . He must have knowledge about people’s behavior, their interaction with the outside world, and he must not forget about intuition.
• If you are not sure, you will not take on the job. . A professional will not risk his reputation if he sees that at this stage of his development he will not be able to master the task assigned to him.
• Does not hold on to a client if he loses his trust . This happens when the client feels that the professional does not have the necessary knowledge and skills to solve his problem. But here there is no need to confuse clients who pathologically do not trust anyone (and there are plenty of them) or who are trying to control the entire process of the master’s work.
• Does not offer a 100% guarantee of success . He can only offer the client that he will make every effort to solve the problem assigned to him.
• Feel free to ask colleagues for help . If a master doesn’t know something, it’s not difficult for him to show his incompetence in something and ask for advice from another specialist.
• Does not impose its services . Of course, this phrase sounds strange in our time of crisis, but it is true. But this is correct in my opinion, because later they won’t say thank you.

In general, something like this. Maybe I forgot to write something about the skills of a professional, but I will be glad to remember it with you in the comments!

Types of masters of their craft

I divide professionals into two classes. And now I will describe what I understand by each of them.

Super pro

This is an extra-class master who has already achieved a lot, his authority is untouchable, his skills are highly valued. He will easily talk about his abilities and capabilities to complete the task proposed by the client.

The same can be said, in my understanding, about a person who has a professional approach to matters of family, marriage, etc. Here, a super-master will always help his life partner understand the situation, can be his teacher, and will learn new things without any problems either on his own or together with his partner. This is a mature and psychologically developed person, without mistakes at the maturation stage, from the prenatal period to high school.

Growing Pro

And this is still an unfinished extra-master. He leans on new knowledge, acquires new skills, and develops his abilities. He gladly takes on any work related to his production activities. Moreover, he does it with careful diligence, regardless of the reward he later receives for it.

But ordinary workers first probe information about the complexity of the task, its payment, and only then begin to decide something there (to undertake, not to undertake). For a professional (growing or extra-class), the task that faces him is important. Moreover, priority is given, of course, to those tasks that will allow them to gain either new knowledge, or develop old skills, or gain new ones.

By the way, you can easily recognize a professional by the way he talks about his work. He describes with great pleasure all the actions, reveals concepts (and in simple language!), shows examples. We can say that he, like a prophet, fanatically brings his knowledge to all people. And he always works for the future.

In general, a growing master is a super-professional, but only in small pants. It’s too early for him to wear his dad’s bell-bottom trousers, but he’s already trying them on. 🙂

Here I will rely on mine practical experience managing a large structural unit (more than 200 people) for more than 4 years, as well as a small team (8 years of management). Although it was in the past, the memory and skills are still fresh!

• If we take finished product . If there is a choice between hiring a person with skills or connections, the first option is preferable. And most often, few people like to depend on the connections of a subordinate to be the only true one.
• Choosing between pros or growing . Of course, a professional is almost always preferable. But there are cases when it is better to raise your own master. For example, if the search includes only growing ones, but no masters. And time goes by.
• Psychologist is your best friend . Yes it is. A competent psychologist can easily understand whether the front person is an integral person, or whether she is as specialized as the Moon. After all, there have been cases when a manager did testing without knowledge of psychology and then got a pig in a poke.
• There are no bad candidates for a master . There are specialists whose professional and personal qualities do not correspond either to the proposed position or to the corporate ethics of the enterprise. And here again a psychologist comes to the rescue!
• The most important skills of a specialist . Strange as it may sound, but not his super professional knowledge in some area. The main skills for working for an uncle are the desire to work for the vacancy, responsibility and the ability to work in this profession. A star in a narrow niche is underqualified in all other areas of work. And a person with general skills and abilities can, if he has the desire and responsibility, become a mega-specialist of an enterprise or company in the future. And you won’t find such people during the day!
• Be sure to find out who the candidate's parents are . And this is very serious - who the father and mother were by profession can give a significant understanding in which direction it will be easier for a specialist to develop, and where it is better for him not to interfere.
• Conduct a psychological interview with the candidate . With the help of such a conversation, you can ask different questions that will allow you to largely evaluate the future master. Stressful questions, nonverbal manifestations, and rationalization come to the rescue.

A few important words about rationalization

Often during communication there are moments when a person, trying to “save face” in front of his interlocutor, gives rational, beautiful explanations for his failures. For example:

— Why did you quit that job after a couple of months?

— It was inconvenient for me to get to my workplace.

The explanation looks nice, but it immediately begs the question - why take a job that is so far away? This means that it is unlikely that the person left due to the long distance of the workplace. That is, a person rationally gives a fictitious explanation, hiding the true reason for leaving work.

This is how a type of psychological defense called rationalization works. Using it, a person unconsciously (or consciously, which is worse) replaces desires and actions unacceptable to his morality with acceptable ones. In other words, this is a “beautiful” explanation of your failures.

And such an approach to one’s problems destroys trust in a specialist. And a professional cannot become a professional who often uses rationalization.

Afterword

And still small, but important detail. Over time, the master creates his own system of work, and in various work aspects - be it some kind of technique or process of interaction, or the search and acquisition of new knowledge. He works his hand so hard that he creates effective template successful completion of a particular task, and with flexibility in subsequent changes (the master is not conservative, he is constantly learning!).

And we must not forget that out of all specialists in the profile there are less than 1% of real professionals. Such people can be seen a mile away from their work. And therefore his value is completely different than the value of any other employee.

The same applies to the professional attitude when starting a family. Happy families (this is my personal opinion!) are even less than 1%. So maybe it’s worth thinking about this and everyone strives to become a master of not only their favorite craft! 🙂

I hope that my vision as a professional has been of benefit to you, dear readers. If I confirmed your view on this issue, great. If you have any doubts or are ready to argue with me on some points of the article, please describe your opinion in the comments!

I hope for a heated but positive discussion! I'm ready for it!

Sincerely, Your Maxim Dovzhenko