I know nothing. And that is what made him a master.

I have been thinking about what mastery actually means.

It is not about expertise, or credentials, or years of experience. It is something else entirely.

Dr. Kjell Kaisen is probably the most known anesthetist in Norway. He is extraordinary at what he does. But that is not why I think of him as a master.

I think of him as a master because of what he did when we sat across from each other during one of the most critical moments of Benjamin’s life. The medical view was one thing. My view was another. I believed Benjamin had a chance to live. We just had to find out who could help us get there.

He listened to me because he understood something that most people with his level of knowledge never fully grasp. That technical mastery alone has a blind spot. And that blind spot can only be filled by another human being looking at the same situation from a completely different angle.

He was right. And Benjamin lived 12 more years.

When we had dinner together years later, he said something I will never forget.

“What has taken me to where I am today is knowing that I know nothing. Because every single person I meet will see something I cannot see. And the moment I forget that, my expertise becomes a ceiling rather than a foundation.”

For me, that is mastery.

The ability to be both a beginner and an expert at the same time. To hold deep knowledge and deep curiosity simultaneously. To know that the person in front of you might see the one thing that changes everything.

It is also what I try to bring into my work every single day.

Love,

Rita

PS. This is the kind of conversation I'm having every week with my clients. If you're sitting with this, you don't have to do it alone. Book a private 1:1 conversation here.