Qualification and working knowledge are essential components, much like the ingredients in a cocktail. For instance, consider James Bond’s favourite drink, the Martini cocktail, which he prefers “shaken, not stirred.” Separating the gin from the vermouth is impossible.
Qualification and working knowledge combine to create a unique flavour containing elements of both. In the real world, our experiences are only sometimes neatly separated. Instead, our ingredients often intermingle, forcing us to adapt and learn quickly when facing unexpected challenges. To prepare for professional challenges, we must plan our training accordingly.
What sets an iconic cocktail apart and makes a technician a competent professional? It’s all about controlling the main ingredients and adding secondary ones in the proper proportions. A good Martini cocktail, for example, requires lemon zest, green olives without pits, ice, and careful presentation. Drinking a Martini cocktail from a beer mug would be a terrible idea!
If you have extraordinary professionalism, you could be a Vesper Martini, the first cocktail James Bond ordered in Ian Fleming’s 1953 book, Casino Royale. IIt is named after the seductive double agent, Vesper Lynd, played by two beautiful women: Ursula Andress in the 1967 movie and Eva Green in the 2006 remake. A Vesper Martini comprises gin, vodka, and Kina Lillet, a French liqueur made with wines from the Bordeaux region and macerated liqueurs. Unfortunately, it is no longer produced.
What do I mean by this bold alcoholic-cinematic metaphor? What do Ursula Andress and Eva Green have more than many other beautiful women? The word is personality. Experience and skills are only helpful if you can rework them to produce something new and yours. And how is this achieved? Testing yourself every day. Trying to improve and finding your weaknesses to work on.
Do you think Eva Green (and Ursula Andress, in her day) left home in the morning as they woke up? Maybe now, yes. But they can afford it because they have worked on themselves for years. They worked on how to introduce themselves, how to walk, how to look, how to smile, how to talk, how to drink a glass of champagne, how to shake hands… They learned to wear make-up, dress, pose, model, and act. They tested themselves because they wanted to improve themselves.
There it is. A good professional must certainly have qualifications and working knowledge. But they are both things you can buy, more or less cheaply. A good professional has a personality. He tackles work to serve his client and the people around him and improve himself. He chooses professional challenges to become a better person. He can develop skills and experiences by producing something new.
Because, after all, you only live twice, and twice is the only way to live!
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