Become An Expert At What You Do

“If you are called to be a street sweeper, sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I’ve Been Thinking. . . about experts. Who are they? What do they do? What makes them an expert?

Consider this. . . Competence breeds confidence. Choose one area of your job. Commit yourself to becoming better at it than anyone else. Or, choose a hobby and become an expert. Find an area in your life you have an interest in and master it.

To feel valued, to know even if only periodically, that you can do something better than anyone else can is an absolutely marvelous feeling.

David Casstevens of the Dallas Morning News told a great story about Frank Szymanski, a Notre Dame center in the 1940’s. Frank was called to be a witness in a civil suit in South Bend.

“Are you on the Notre Dame Football team this year?” the judge asked.

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“What position?”

“Center, Your Honor.”

“How good a center?”

Szymanski squirmed a bit in his seat, but replied firmly: “Sir, I’m the best center Notre Dame has ever had.”

Coach Frank Leahy, who was in the courtroom, was surprised at Szymanski’s response. He had always been so modest and unassuming. So when the proceedings were over, he took Szymanski aside and asked why he had made such a statement. Szymanski blushed.

“I hated to do it, Coach,” he said. “But, after all, I was under oath.”

If you were under oath, what testimony would you be able to give about your professional competence? Are you continually recommitting yourself to being a little bit better tomorrow than you are today? Do you have a burning desire to master what you do and be considered the best? What concentrated effort are you making to become an expert at what you do?

Rosalynn Carter’s comment makes good sense: “If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can’t accomplish it. You have to have the confidence in your ability and then be tough enough to follow through.” Learn what it takes to become your best. Have the courage to follow through. Invest yourself totally in becoming better than anyone ever thought you could, including yourself.

Experts do what they do like no one else can do it. Make that your mantra. . .

The morning after the big Heisman Trophy ceremony the newspaper headline read: “A landmark night for Baylor.” Baylor’s junior quarterback Robert Griffin III became the school’s first Heisman winner.

Griffin accepted the honor wearing his Superman socks. . . cape (on the socks) and all. The junior quarterback known as RG3 flashed his wide smile when the winning announcement was made and made his way to the podium. “This is unbelievably believable,” he said. “It’s unbelievable because in the moment we’re all amazed when great things happen. But it’s believable because great things don’t happen without hard work.”

Griffin’s comment unveiled a heavy dose of practical philosophy for anyone passionate about becoming an expert.

Time. Commitment. Energy. Passion. Practice. Make them your friends.

"Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it."

Ted Williams