Welcome to the Pros

June 18, 2009

Of course, most of us fit the standard definition of following a profession and earning a living. It’s that extra bit – being a skilled practitioner – that really brings out the pro in professional.
As in all professions, the cream always rises, and certain individuals just stand out. Why is that? What makes them special? Are they just lucky? Blessed? Do they come from a planet far, far away that has a stronger gravitational pull which allows them to leap tall Defensemen in a single bound?
Every sport has hundreds, if not thousands, of other athletes all competing to be the best. So what kind of commitment do these super athletes make to be the best?
Time is one thing. All three athletes mentioned at the outset started with their fathers when they were very, very young. Their mentors and those they associated with were deeply committed to their growth almost right from the beginning.
And it’s the same for our trade: Who has mentored you in the stone business? Who taught you the value of commitment?
Let’s go back to those superstars. Were they winning championship games at the age of six? Mostly they were learning the basics.
Have you ever seen a pee-wee hockey game? You have ten or so two-foot-tall tykes on skates all chasing a puck into the corner and two little net minders (whose pads outweigh them) longing and waiting for action.
It isn’t until they reach their early teens that they learn the value of teamwork and positioning. But their coaches still teach them the basics. They make them run drills and go over plays that they may or may not use during the season.
And when they finally reach the pros, do they just step on to the field and play? If you have ever had the privilege to witness an NFL training camp or practice, for example, you’d see that they do more work off the field and away from the cameras before game day then they actually do ON game day.
How about you? How do you condition yourself? I know that most of those working in a fabrication shop get to see plenty of practice time on an edge grinder; however, in restoration, we see more differences in surfaces than there are different defensive formations in Texas. How can we stay “on top of our game”? How can we condition ourselves against our next opponent?
Pro athletes run drills and practice, and so can we. Sure, we may have worked on Crema Marfil and become the King of Travertine, but how long has it been since you tackled top-polishing Black Absolute or faced off against a 900-lbs Blue Pearl island?
Can your equipment stand up against the checkerboard granite/marble floor? Are you just winging it in the big game like J.P. Losman coming off of the bench for the Buffalo Bills? Are you hoping to spy off someone else’s notes online the night before like you did in college?
Hey, Peyton didn’t learn how to play football by playing Madden 97 on his Gameboy. He got in the game! He didn’t talk about it; he did it.
We have test floors set up in all of our locations for instruction and practice. (Amazing coincidence here; all of the NFL teams have practice facilities as well.) If our team has a black granite elevator cab coming up, I don’t want them looking like the Detroit Lions (who maybe need to use their practice facility more) out there. I want them to be disciplined and ready to succeed, not bleed.
If they can’t do it on the test floor, how are they going to do it on a customer’s floor? And if they can’t do it on the test floor, it’s a tweet of the coach’s whistle and tell ‘em, “Again!”
What’s the difference between being practiced, organized and prepared to just showing up and doing your own thing? The same difference between the Dallas Cowboys and the London (Ontario) Silverbacks. If you’re a successful professional and put on a good show, you can sell out an 80,000-seat stadium at $159 to $9,999 per ticket.
Now the Silverbacks put on a good show too, but they just don’t have the talent, or the means to support coaching for extra training … and therefore draw about 350 at $10 general admission to a playoff game.
And maybe that’s why some companies get a higher dollar per-square-foot for restoration than others. All it takes is a little ingenuity, a test floor and the desire, drive and commitment to be the best.
Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.
Tom McNall is founder and owner of Great Northern Stone Care, a Huron Park, Ontario-based stone-cleaning and -restoration company servicing all of southern Ontario. Tom offers corporate and private consultations, serves as a trainer for the Marble Institute of America, and is also on the organization’s board of directors. He can be reached at stone_rx@earthlink.net.