Professional Development
by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional
Being in business is about two things. Doing what the business does and running the business. Michael E. Gerber, in his classic book about entrepreneurs, The E Myth, said that every business needs someone to work in the business and someone to work on the business. Being able to offer a product or service that people will buy from you makes it possible for you to get into business. Running your business successfully is what keeps you in business.
Balancing what you do for a living and running the business side of that profession is the number one classic stumbling block for every small business owner I have ever met. That goes for every dive enthusiast that has ever started their own diving business, regardless of whether they wanted to teach diving, own a charter boat, or open a dive store.
A Dive Industry Professional working in the recreational diving business wears a lot of hats. Sometimes we kid ourselves into thinking that anyone can do it and the barriers to entry into the industry are minimal, and at best is a one and done kind of commitment. As a 50-year diving business professional, I can testify that nothing is further from the truth. Working as a Dive Industry Professional requires an initial education, additional training in one or more specialties, and a lifelong commitment to continuing education. A Dive Industry Professional needs to be well educated in their field to begin with and become a lifelong learner after their initial training.
Professional Development can be conducted on an annual basis at a regional or national Professional Development Conference. Professional Development Conferences are not new to industry professionals. They are well attended in many professional trades by Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers, Insurance Salespeople, Business Consultants, Graphic Artists, Software Developers, and of course, Scuba Diving Instructors. Think of annual Professional Development Conferences in the same way you think of your annual medical examination. It’s an annual event that summarizes a year of daily work. It’s an annual update on the current practices in your profession. It’s an opportunity to stay in contact with your colleagues and it’s the best way to meet new people. I prefer to think of annual conferences as an opportunity to recharge my professional batteries. It’s not a once in a year opportunity to learn everything about your profession. Your continual learning and advancement should take place all year long. Before, during, and after the conference.
Professional Development should focus on your current duties and responsibilities in the industry. Your overall development and continuing education should be balanced between what you currently do and what you are working toward. Dive Industry Professionals would do well to work with a Professional Coach and have a diving industry mentor who can advise you on a career path that maximizes your potential. Our monthly trade magazine, The Dive Industry Professional is designed to show Dive Industry Professionals the immense opportunities and options they have in the Global Diving Industry. It’s a great resource to subscribe to as an educational tool that helps increase your professional development, but it is no substitute for working one-on-one with an Industry Coach or Mentor.
Professional Development is so personal that it should be tailored to an individual’s career path, or as we call it, their Dive Industry Professional’s educational journey. It is important to tailor continuing education to a professional’s primary responsibility, their secondary responsibility, and any future responsibilities they want to pursue. A diving instructor will want to participate in continuing education in instruction and perhaps learn about specialty equipment and teaching diving specialties. Others may want to branch out into equipment repair and maintenance or improve their abilities as a Dive Tour Guide or Divemaster. Many Instructors learn to become Boat Captains, and other Resort Instructors train to be qualified as Instructor Trainers and Course Directors. All these duties require advanced learning, experience, and continuing education.
Working in the business side of diving puts a whole new perspective on a Dive Industry Professional’s career path. Again, professional development should be tailored to the duties and responsibilities you have or are working toward. A business owner needs to spend their professional development time equally balanced, if they expect to stay in business doing what they love. Too often I’ve seen great diving instructors and charismatic travel group leaders go out of business because they didn’t keep up with their professional business development. Don’t let that happen to you.
I remember reading about Jacques Cousteau’s diving team members aboard the Calypso. Every diver on the team had 3 or 4 other jobs to do besides diving. In the U.S. Navy we called those collateral duties. When we weren’t diving, we were doing some other kind of jobs. And that went for continual training as well. When we weren’t participating in dive training, it was in small arms, demolition, cutting and welding, and for me it was professional development in chamber operations, diving supervision, teaching diving, or logistical dive planning operations. Every member of the dive team wore many hats. Diving was a full-time job, even if the diving part was only a piece of the action.
It’s the same thing with the business of diving. To stay in business doing what you love to do, you have to do everything well. If you have a weak link and feel there are things you don’t like to do or don’t know how to do, you can hire someone who does. Another alternative for diving entrepreneurs is to increase your professional development time and include various aspects of business training.
One final type of professional development, which has become necessary in the past ten years is professional business development in the workings of the global diving industry. The Dive Industry Association has been teaching Dive Industry Professionals about the diving industry, how it functions, and the industry professionals and businesses that work in it. Our website, DIVE LOCAL, has a published directory of all the dive stores in the United States. We are still in the process of publishing all the Dive Boats and Dive Clubs in the U.S. A project we intend to work on in the near future is a directory of all the Dive Instructors in the U.S.
Teaching Dive Industry Professionals about the global diving industry will help us establish best practices and career pathways for the next generation in the global diving community.
Become a Member of our Global Diving Business Network: Annual Membership in the Dive Industry Association is $125 and includes placement in a number of Trade Directories and websites. Our organization uses websites and directories in advertising and marketing campaigns to refer business to our members. By joining our network, you are becoming part of a network that works on your behalf to bring buyers and sellers together for the benefit and growth of the Global Diving Community. Download a Membership Application today.
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