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The Problem with My Existing Expertise

January 13, 2015

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The Problem with My Existing Expertise

“How long did it take you to become an expert in your field?” I was asked.

“Well, I’m still learning” I replied. “There are over 7 billion people on the planet and they are all individuals. Until I fully understand them all, at least, I’ll need to keep learning.”

“What about you?” I asked my new coaching client, a CEO of an engineering enterprise.

“I’ve been successful because of my expertise in engineering solutions over the last 25 years” he said with his customary confidence.

“What about your expertise in inspiring and supporting people?” I asked.

“That’s secondary actually” he responded without too much thought.

That answer confirmed why his board had asked me to coach him.

To his credit, it didn’t take too long for him to realise that what he knew now wasn’t going to suffice for what he had to achieve as a CEO, rather than as an expert engineer.

It’s easy for us to become complacent about what we know and think about that knowledge being sufficient for moving forward.

As a leader we must adopt the mindset of forever learning and being humble, open and vulnerable enough to actively learn, particularly about people.

What got us here isn’t enough to take us wherever “there” is.

To think that “there” is the same as “here” is fatal.

What do you think?

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