Values Quotes – Don DeLillo on Professionalism

Todays quote is from Don DeLillo, an award-winning writer who has covered many diverse subjects, from sports to mathematics to the advent of the digital age.

An insightful quote from DeLillo is:
“It occurred to me that eating is the only form of professionalism most people ever attain.”

Well, I guess most of us can claim to be a professional in at least one thing: eating

As a differentiating value, Professionalism means acting as a qualified authority; possessing expertise; or learned.

Traditional professionals were doctors, engineers, lawyers, and even commissioned military officers. Over the years, this list was expanded to include nurses, accountants, educators, and even artists, as we’ll as others.

But today, everyone can choose to be a professional. In fact, anyone can become an expert or qualified authority on a given topic…. providing they are engaged in their area of expertise as a career or occupation and not as a hobby.

In the book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell popularized the concept of the “10,000-Hour Rule” claiming that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours. Think about it. A plumber who has put in 10,000 hours is a professional plumber. The violinist who has put in 10,000 hours is a professional violinist.

Anyone who has dedicated that much time, effort, and energy has embraced the value of professionalism. They’re a professional in their field of expertise.

 

Today’s value was selected from the “Knowledge-Skillfulness” category, based on the e-book Developing Your Differentiating Values.