Discover the Expert In You
The myth of the expert has been debunked. Gone is the perception that an expert is one of the elite few enlightened beyond the limits of the rest of us mere mortals. That’s not to say we’re all experts as that is certainly not the case, nor should it be (you know what they about too many cooks in the kitchen). Expertise is a kind of power that can be developed and used as a tool to fulfill life’s objectives. Like any other power it as effective and good as the person wielding it. Who has the ability to develop this power?
The answer is easy. . . . anyone.
Is expert power created over-night? It most certainly is not. Does it take time, energy, and resources to develop? It most certainly does. Does the average person have sufficient amounts of time, energy and resources to develop this power? Yes, and if not the effort to gain sufficient levels is relatively easy.
Let’s look at a common definition of the word expert. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines the word as “having, involving, or displaying special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience”. There are four key words from this definition to focus on right now; skill, knowledge, training, and experience. Note that there are no qualitative or quantitative descriptions surrounding these key words (and I challenge you to find any such descriptions in any definition of this word). It is therefore logical that you can be an expert in anything and what it takes to become an expert in terms of training and experience is largely open for interpretation. Clearly, interpretations have been made in lots of different domains. I will use a commercial airline pilot as an example. The pilot is, without a doubt, an expert and there is a very rigid process one has to go through to attain the skills and documented experience to achieve the expert status of a commercial airline pilot. However, this age of the Internet has seen experts pop up in all kinds of different fields from Russian kettle bell training to designing your Facebook profile installing and configuring your home theater system. These folks claim expertise just like the airline pilot does and they come at us from every corner of the media. So, what really makes an expert an expert?
The answer is perception. I will go so far as to say it’s more about perception than anything else. This is not something to take advantage of but it is something to plant firmly in the front of your mind. The actions to be perceived as an expert are clearly definable and should be taken right along side the actions of actually becoming an expert. Once you are perceived as an expert you will harness expert power (relative to other types of power such as formal, referent, etc.)
What does this mean for us? It means that path for you to become an expert is not insurmountable, and is, in fact, very achievable. The first step is to figure out what you’re an expert in already or can be very soon. Create a list of your potential expertise areas categorizing them as skills, knowledge, training and experience. This will help make sure you think about as many different things are possible.
- What specific skills do you have?
- What specific knowledge have you gained throughout your life?
- What special training have you had?
- What kind of experience do you have?
Brainstorm your list, leave it alone for a little while and then come back and go over it again. If you have multiple possibilities you need to prioritize them based on what you like.
Next, we need to discuss how to develop and refine this expertise but that is another topic for later!
Here are a few words about the author. Phil is a husband, a father of four boys, an avid cyclist and a proud lifestyle investor! Live your life, control your time, and don't let anyone tell you it is not possible.