What do you think of when you hear the word professional? Doctor? Lawyer? Teacher? Engineer? Accountant? Nurse? Pharmacist? Chef?

What about mechanic … waiter … bartender … cook … customer care representative?

Did you balk at the second group? If so, why? What makes a professional?

Two things.

Competence. A professional knows what they are doing. They have mastered (or —better choice— continually master) their craft. For a professional, best is unattainable but better is always possible.

Character. They have high standards and impeccable values. Integrity is their watchword. Accountability is their practice.

Being a professional has nothing to do with income. It has nothing to do with status or title or role. Rather, being a professional has everything to do with what you can do and how you do it. It has everything to do with being able to do the job as perfectly, cleanly, kindly, and fairly as possible while standing behind the work come hell or high water. It has everything to do with being proud to put your name on the finished article while graciously delivering it.

Whether a surgeon or a taxi driver, you can be a professional or not. You can choose excellence, civility, and compassion or not. You can wake up every day seeking to do better work to make a better world or not.

Each day is a choice to be a professional. Each shift is a choice to be better than the last. Each hour is a choice to be more valuable.

What is a professional? It can be you if you so choose.

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