How to Master Your Craft
By leadership author and keynote speaker Ross Shafer
I know you’re probably really good at something. But are you a master? Do you want to achieve Mastery? Good because I want to talk about how to become a Master of your Craft. A friend of mine is Mike Neun, Mike was a valuable mentor who helped me learn MY craft. What I love about Mike is that he doesn’t just pursue what he finds interesting….he sets out to master that interest. Last week Mike told me about a book by Robert Greene titled Mastery.
You’ve no doubt heard that it takes about 10,000 hours to become a master at something…but the little known secret about achieving mastery is that money, social status, or even a famous family name isn’t required to become a Mastery. Robert Greene points out that Leonardo da Vinci was born as the illegitimate child of a peasant woman. At 14 he became a full time apprentice to learn drafting, painting, metallurgy, and carpentry – but by the age of 20 DaVinci qualified as a Master in the Guild of St Luke. Greene says DaVinci achieved mastery through Rigorous Apprenticeship. DaVinci downplayed his hard work, “If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.”
There were other great painters and sculptures in DaVinci’s time but he was different. He knew that money and influence couldn’t sustain the one trait you need for mastery….DRIVE. DRIVE doesn’t settle for competence. DRIVE compelled DaVinci to weave his soul into his work. Albert Einstein put it this way, “Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands ALL of a person.” When your soul, your art…your original perspective is applied to what drives you, you can transcend competence into mastery.
What a perfect segue into Football! (I love football so I look for any loose connection to talk about it ;-). You probably know the name Steve Young. Steve is a Football Hall of Fame quarterback who played 15 seasons and led his San Francisco 49ers to a victory in Super Bowl 29. In his career, Steve passed for over 33,000 yards. That’s mastery, right? Steve was driven to be more than a student of the game. He was always looking for ways to improve. Listen to what Steve learned playing behind All American Jim McMahon at Brigham Young University. From a young age, Steve Young put everything he had into playing football…he always looked for the nuances that would make him run better – throw better – make him a master. So there’s the test, isn’t it. Can you devote your whole strength and your soul into your work? If you can, you could be on the path to rise from competence to mastery.
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Ross Shafer is the author of (9) popular business books and (14) human resource training films. In a former career Ross won (6) Television Emmy awards for his work as a TV host, writer, and producer. Today, Ross is a sought after keynote speaker and consultant for Fortune 500 companies worldwide.