Are you a professional or an amateur?

A few months ago I was introduced to a cybersecurity expert at Canada’s top intelligence agency named Shane Parrish. Here's the New York Times article that I read on Shane and then proceeded to go down a rabbit trail and consume all of the content of his that I could find on the internet. He is a fascinating read and his The Knowledge Project podcast is one that I listen to every single week. Shane takes ideas ranging from sleep to leadership to technology and everything in between and double clicks down on them and explains it in a new and fresh way. And he explains it in a way that I can apply to my personal life and work life immediately. One of the first podcast episodes I listened to was an interview with Matthew Walker on The Power of Sleep. It was an hour and fifty three minutes and I could have listened for another two hours. People like Shane and his podcast guests help me think critically about things that I normally wouldn’t give a second thought too.

Recently Shane shared this article on the difference between amateurs and professionals. And he listed the differences between them. As I began to read through the list I began to evaluate all of it in my own life and write the areas where I would consider myself a professional and other areas where I would consider myself an amateur. More than anything this helped me identify some strengths and some weaknesses in my own professional life. My goal is always to lean into my strengths and get so good at those that the weaknesses don’t matter as much. If you’re a good leader there is something that you are great at. There is something that you are better at than 99% of the population. But that also means that there is something you’re not great at. The difference between a good leader and a great leader is the good leader will spend a ton of time trying to get better in that weak area. Meanwhile the great leader spends that time getting better in their strength and identifying and developing someone who can do the parts they are weak at.

After I read and evaluated the list for myself I began to evaluate the list in reference to the people on my team and my other co workers. I’m not suggesting that you share this with your coworkers and tell them all the ways they are amateurs. In fact that would probably be a VERY bad idea. But I am suggesting you evaluate the list in reference to your co workers or team and begin to strategize to improve the situation. That’s what leaders do. You can’t control their weaknesses. But you can control the strategy of your team and how their weaknesses affect your team. Maybe it means moving people around within your organization to find a role they are better suited for. Maybe it puts language to something you’ve noticed within an individual or team but didn’t know how to name it. Looking at this list through this lens also helps you hire better next time.

“Amateurs believe that the world should work the way they want it to. Professionals realize that they have to work with the world as they find it.” -Tim Elmore

• Amateurs have a goal. Professionals have a process. 

• Amateurs think they’re good at everything. Professionals understand they have to keep working. 

• Amateurs see feedback and coaching as someone criticizing them as a person. Professionals know they have blind spots and seek out thoughtful criticism. 

• Amateurs value isolated performance. Think about the receiver who catches the ball once on a difficult throw. Professionals value consistency. Can I catch the ball in the same situation 9 times out of 10? 

• Amateurs give up at the first sign of trouble and assume they’re failures. Professionals see failure as part of the path to growth and mastery. 

• Amateurs don’t have any idea what improves the odds of achieving good outcomes. Professionals do. 

• Amateurs show up to practice to have fun. Professionals realize that what happens in practice happens in games. 

• Amateurs focus on identifying their weaknesses and improving them. Professionals focus on their strengths and on finding people who are strong where they are weak. 

• Amateurs react. Professionals prepare.

• Amateurs think knowledge is power. Professionals pass on wisdom and advice. 

• Amateurs focus on being right. Professionals focus on getting the best outcome. 

• Amateurs focus on first-level thinking. Professionals focus on second-order thinking. 

• Amateurs focus on the short term. Professionals focus on the long term. 

• Amateurs focus on tearing other people down. Professionals focus on making everyone better. 

• Amateurs make decisions in committees so there is no one person responsible if things go wrong. Professionals make decisions as individuals and accept responsibility. 

• Amateurs blame others. Professionals accept responsibility. 

• Amateurs show up inconsistently. Professionals show up every day. 

• Amateurs go faster. Professionals go further. 

• Amateurs go with the first idea that comes into their head. Professionals realize the first idea is rarely the best idea. 

• Amateurs think in ways that can’t be invalidated. Professionals don’t. 

• Amateurs think in absolutes. Professionals think in probabilities. 

• Amateurs think the probability of them having the best idea is high. Professionals know the probability of that is low. 

• Amateurs think reality is what they want to see. Professionals know reality is what’s true. 

• Amateurs think disagreements are threats. Professionals see them as an opportunity to learn. 

What’s holding you back? Are you hanging around amateurs when you realize you should be hanging around professionals? Or do you realize you’re an amateur hanging around professionals? Either way we all have a choice to make.