“Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.” —Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States.
Competence. These three syllables mean everything in business, art, and industry alike, embodying as they do an individual’s overall capability as a practitioner of their chosen field.
Like the older terms “able seaman” or “journeyman,” competence signifies an individual’s capacity to handle all aspects of a particular job, and even in our over-hyped world remains something to be proud of.
Yet competence is a moving target, since it doesn't always translate from one task to another — and in the modern business era, the tasks that define your competence will inevitably change over time. When some new job requirement pops up, you may discover you can’t even manage the minimal standards right out of the gate.
