Meaningful Returns

Recently, in the space of 48 hours, I got to see the handiwork of three experts in three very different fields, and yet the reaction each of them elicited in me was remarkably similar.

The first was a carpenter named Matt who restores really old homes, and who made time to take on the much less glamorous job of renovating my bathroom. The second was an orthopedic surgeon named Tim who repaired multiple fractures in the leg of a guy I had coffee with who thought amputation might be a reasonable possibility. The third was an old family friend named Kelly who’s the lead golf instructor at the Pinehurst Resort Golf Academy (and who I’m convinced could get everyone to a place where golf is always trending toward fun rather than frustration).

Though the definition of “expert” focuses almost exclusively on knowledge and skill (especially gained through training and/or practice), I’m convinced that the only experts worth paying for a service display a character quality not mentioned in the dictionary:

They like to share.

They share their knowledge and skill by synthesizing it, by packaging it up in individualized ways, and then by delivering it to us in our specific context. They share their passion, their effusive preoccupation with their beloved subject matter, so that we might be taken in with the joy of it all. And they share their integrity and character, which is the Trust-glue that holds any claim to “Expert” together.

The world is full of dictionary experts, and it is not yet full of Experts as I have described above. If you would pay one to do a job for you–whether for carpentry, surgery, golf or financial planning–my advice is to find one in the small minority of capital E.

(And just as importantly, increase that small minority by committing to be an expert in your calling!)