Guest Column
Are You Working to Enhance the Pro in Your Professional Technician Role?
GO PRO: Being “good enough” doesn’t cut it anymore. The HVAC professionals who rise to the top are the ones who treat learning like a lifestyle.
The Professional Technician is always learning, grinding, and study her/his craft to stay at the top of their game. If you are excelling in the HVAC/R world, I mean, really getting after it and separating yourself from the herd, you realize this is a lifestyle, not simply a job.
As things have evolved over the last few decades, many people have talked about work-life balance. Downtime, flexibility, a path for advancement, I could not be any more on board with that mindset. But what I am talking about here doesn’t easily fit into one of those categories. It does require more of you, as a human, like any other professional role does.
When you get your EPA certification(s), your degree in HVAC Technology, and you graduate from the apprenticeship program, all those things are simply the price of entry to have the opportunity to play at an elevated level. Think about this: the airline pilot, the one who flew you and that sweet family of yours to your vacation spot — she did not “get her wings” and then call it done. Nope, every year or more often for some, the updates, the learning the new planes, the new avionics, etc., they have to stay current. The surgeon, the guy who cut you open, removed something, tweaked something else, or did some other procedure inside your body … Yep, same. He went to 8 years of university and then most likely a specialty school, and yes … He too must relearn, stay current, and delve into new technologies as quickly, and if he is on his game, quicker than what the market asks for.
The Wayne Gretsky quote, maybe worn thin, but it is still spot on, “I skate to where the puck will be, not to where the puck is.” Staying ahead of the puck is the name of so many games, our industry is not somehow strangely immune to this vein of thinking, nor the actions required to stay at the pinnacle. You have to think ahead, both on the job itself, but equally, if not more importantly, on your career journey.
Everyone has commitments. Some have family, some have a lot of family, some have none. Some travel for softball, soccer, wrestling, some have a sick child or parent to take care of, some do not. My point here is, we all have a lot to do — however, if you study the people in life, both those with names you know and then the common folks who “just happen to excel in the field,” many of them have similar traits. They have a plan, they work the plan, they measure themselves against the plan, and they continually adjust the plan to ensure they are on course for where they want to land. If you do not plan, you will stagnate; it is pretty cut and dried.
All people go through cycles or seasons of life. Maybe it’s the young and single season, you work more, you play hard, and you have darn near unlimited flexibility in the day-to-day. Maybe you are supporting a young family. Lots to juggle in that role, kids, school, trips, maybe a set of in-laws, and the personal relationship you are working to, first of all, figure out, and then trying to improve upon. Next up? Empty nesters, perhaps, yet again, things are different for you.
So, what do you do to manage everything I just wrote and still be on top of your game, not only getting to the top, but actually staying one step or two ahead of the curve? You plan your time. You make the effort, the extra effort, you set aside time to get better at what you need to get better at. Using your calendar, just like you would for a softball game, a Girl Scout night, or anything else. Put it on the calendar and commit to it. Yes, an hour of reading? Yes, put it on the calendar and treat it with the respect of any other engagement you agree to.
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Commitment is tough for some. It requires dedication, determination, and discipline to move your internal needle to a point where you start to see the payoff. You get picked out of the crowd of your peers because you have developed and or are developing the skills required to take care of problems. You get the troubleshooting call that is stumping other folks. You do not wear this as an arrogance badge, no – A professional wears this as an opportunity to elevate the entire crew. Use what you learn and teach – yes, teach. You do not have to be anointed by anyone to offer help to your peers. As I have seen from 43 years in this field, if you help others grow with a heaping dose of knowledge and a tablespoon of humility, they will appreciate it. Customers, companies, schools, and anyone else you can help, people will soak it in.
Why do it? Why do the work required to be a Master Craftsperson? Because many people in this world have decided that “good enough is good enough,” that is a great catalyst for many, myself included. My industry, your industry, the HVAC industry, has some brilliant people in it. People who can solve ridiculous problems, people who can think four steps ahead, we need them with us. The balance to that is that we need solid people who commit to getting to that level themselves. It takes time, it takes grit, it takes discipline, and yes, you will have to sacrifice some time away from another thing that you have historically done. Evenings are required. Weekends are required. Volunteering for after-hours work is required. Showing up and helping your peers is required. Web searching and reading are required, even some garage experimentation may be required. To be at the top of the game, you have to be willing to put down something that may not be getting you ahead in life and commit to this wonderful trade. A trade that will take care of you and your family forever, especially when you are a Master of Your Trade.
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