Who is the professional?

A kangaroo kept getting out of his enclosure at the zoo. Knowing that he could hop high, the professional zoo officials put up a ten-foot fence. He was out the next morning, just sauntering around the zoo.

A twenty-foot fence was put up. Again he got out. When the fence was forty feet high, a camel in the next enclosure asked the kangaroo, “How high do you think they’ll go?”

The kangaroo said, “About a thousand feet, unless somebody locks the gate at night!”

Here’s another story told by a disgruntled passenger: I couldn’t find my luggage at the airport baggage area. I went to the lost luggage office and told the man there that my bags never showed up. 

He smiled and told me not to worry because he was a trained professional and I was in good hands. “Now,” he asked me, “has your plane arrived yet?”

And these were professional people.

I work with so many event organizers and I work with many of them all the time. They are constantly the preferred events provider for the big companies simply because they take their work seriously and they do things professionally. I enjoy working with these pros. They see to it that every detail is taken care of.

Every event they organize would always surpass the last one they did. This way they retain the relationship and trust of their clients. Innovation is the name of their game and proper execution is essential.

The event may have a lot of components and complicated parts but these professional people run it so well seamlessly. Hitches and glitches happen all the time but watch them spring into action. They know what to do, how to do it and this is what makes them professionals.

So many people, who call themselves “professionals” behave like amateurs or worst, behave unprofessionally. They charm you and flatter you in order to get a contract. They promise everything under the sun. And when the contract is signed and the deal is about to take place knowing that the client is now dependent on the professional’s services as his or her career is on the line, the “professional” does a lousy job, falls short on expected deliveries and worst – changes rules and terms.

They add so many unreasonable and additional conditions and try to squeeze or milk more money from the client knowing that the client has no option at that moment but to push through with the event. These hucksters should be banned in the industry. Many of them actually are but some still proliferate as many clients do not do due diligence and would fall for their schemes.

And then there are the talents. There are those who behave professionally. They show up early, they are humble and friendly and in their presentations you can immediately sense that the talent/ speaker/ artist want to give the best so everyone benefits from it.

And then there are those that act like prima donnas. They show up late and make everyone in the room wait so he or she can make a grand entrance. It is as if the world owes them a favor for showing up. In their minds they think they are being fashionably late. And in their speech they are so full of themselves and then tell everyone, “I am a professional!” Duh!?

In my line of business, I have met some of these people who act as if the whole universe revolves around them. Watch their crew and staff; they behave the same way too. They are not professionals; they are egomaniacs who would never make this world a better place.

Here is what you as a professional would do on a constant basis. Show up early. Give more than what you are paid for. Deliver masterfully. Be respectful and never for a moment behave like a rock star.

Success is never static, it has to be sustained and it has to be maintained… for the many more years to come.

(Start the next year strong and start the next year right. Rizza Mantaring, Hidilyn Diaz, Jodi Sta. Maria, Carlo Ople, Randell Tiongson and Francis Kong will share lessons on how to achieve peak performance. Attend this one-day seminar entitled Power Up for Peak Performance! on Jan. 20, 2017 at Samsung Hall SM Aura Premier. For tickets reservation contact April at +63928-559-1798 or Michael +63916-187-1506)