What Is That Specialty You Deliver?
It has been a somewhat hectic week for me. That can happen when unexpected items occur in your life that were not part of your well-developed schedule that now need your attention. A couple of my “pet peeves” when some of those things happen, and they actually involve a wider range of people are remarks that go something as follows:
“Oh can you take care of that. You’re retired, or you are only working that part-time thing you do. I can’t address that because “I have to go to work, or I have a lot of things happening at my job this week.”
Or perhaps this one:
“You can’t expect him or her to do it, because they are a doctor, or a lawyer, (or you fill in the profession), and a lot of people depend on them.”
What annoys me about the comments and sentiment is the following. Yes, I will acknowledge that certain professions may require more in the way of schooling, exams to be passed, certifications to be earned, etc. However, it does not necessarily make them all that more important than what someone else may do.
When someone has a need, the individual who is able to address that need is the most important person at that moment to solve their problem. For example, when the window on my patio shattered and slowly disintegrated from a flying stone that hit the window, the person from the window repair shop was a relief for my wife and I when he was able to quickly diagnose the steps to take to fix the problem, (and at least when the colder weather comes back in a few months, we will not have to have a non-insulated window protecting us from the winter cold).
Or during the course of my day or week some of my most pleasant encounters are with the people who take my order for lunch, or who are at the checkout counter at the local store. When a person doing that role is good at what they do, they help put a calm in your day. Because, when they are not, (and I am sure this has happened to all of you at one time or another), it just adds stress to your day that you many times are looking to step away from even for a short period of time.
When a person does what they do especially well, they are serving others. In doing so, they are delivering the skills they have either been trained in, or frankly blessed to have been born with and are sharing them with others. It is one of the major reasons that when working with job searchers, those of us in the coaching profession or who run job search support groups want to know less what a person does based on a job title, but want to know more what it is they enjoy doing in terms of supporting others. It is why we encourage them to identify themselves by their transferable skill sets.
Take pride in what it is you do. If you want to build on what you do, then take the necessary training or gain the experience to do so. Never let ANYONE put you down for the things you do in supporting others whether it is at a business you work or if you provide your own services. Yes, there may be those that are not impressed with you if they are all wrapped up in titles or feel what they do is more important than what you do. However, there will also be many that will be grateful for the outstanding service and talents you bring to their life even if it is for a few moments each day.
