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Expert to Leader: can your most talented people lead the rest?
Being an Expert doesn't always translate into great Leadership...
Expertise is valuable – and valued. At least, that’s usually the case…we hope! Think about those you turn to in moments of crisis, of pressure, of change…when the chips are down, you want an expert in your corner.
Expertise, in your own career, comes with many benefits. Better pay, better reward, the recognition and respect of your peers. Being an expert is one of the most widely shared ambitions we see in our own work. The goal that so many professionals, keen to climb to the very top of their career ladder, dream of. Being the best. Being known as the best.
It can take years, even decades, to get there. To be an expert. To learn sometimes very specific skills, to gain the kind of knowledge and insight that only time and experience can really bring. Talent, genius, can launch you on the right path – but real, recognised expertise also requires making a conscious effort to continue learning. To embrace and understand every new technological development, every new approach, adapting your processes, the language you use, and the culture you’re in.
For even the most shining, specialised person to remain balanced on the shifting sands of progress – and to make that progress, from being a student to gaining renown as an expert, in any professional field, takes effort and commitment…
Because progress is only progress if you are committed to it; that level of work and study takes enormous investment – both financially and of your time, of your mental and emotional capacity, of your life, and of your work – and expertise doesn’t come to all. True expertise often grows from an initial innate skill or talent, but it means developing your understanding of the work you’re doing, and that usually requires the kind of mind that can see their own strengths and where they need to develop, or to rely on the skills of others when their own are lacking. Genius cannot work in a vacuum!
When you love the work you do, and you commit to being the best that you can be, you recognise that investment in your individual growth, in your career and in the industry you’re in, is often the way you build a reputation as an expert. You gain recognition from your peers, from others in your field, from those above you, below you and working by your side. Your reputation as the expert then means that you become the ‘go-to person’ in your organisation, when that specific expertise is needed. You’re who everyone turns to, because you might be the only person with the answers.
This also means that, for the most senior Leaders in any organisation, your ‘go-to expert’ seems like the most obvious candidate for promotion, when a Management role opens up. After all, who could be better to lead your team than your most experienced, knowledgeable and talented expert?
In this leadership role, your expert can share those unique skills, guide others, and the whole team will learn from that expertise…right? Surely promoting the expert into being a Leader means they’re in the best place to share that expertise, for the benefit of the entire organisation..?
Unfortunately, that’s usually – or rather, often – not the case!
Being an expert – no matter what that specific area of expertise is – is no guarantee that you also have the right skills to be a successful or talented Leader.
Expertise doesn’t always translate to leadership skills.
“The definition of an expert is someone who knows what not to do"
Charles Willson
Expertise doesn’t always translate to Great Leadership...
Great Leadership is, after all, a skill in and of itself – and being good at Leading others requires very different qualities to those that make someone an expert in any specific field. The kind of single-minded focus and drive that take you to renown and respect as an expert don’t necessarily translate well when you understand that Leadership is an entirely different kind of role.
So how can you benefit from the expertise of your most talented people, and embed that kind of knowledge, skill and insight into the culture and development of every person in their team? And how can you help those experts succeed as Leaders, if that’s the natural next step for their career?
You ASK the experts!
(That’s us, by the way!)
Leadership comes naturally to some – the traits and behaviours that help you to be great at Leading others might be innate, but for most people taking their first promotion into any Leadership or Management role there will be a learning curve. Why would you trust that to fate, if you can support their learning, guide their experience and development, and guarantee that they learn how to lead well, right from their first day in the job?
Though innate skills might shape some Leaders, most of us need to learn those skills. Much like it took time and experience to become an expert, being a great Leader can be learned. Invest in the development of your leaders, current and future, and teach them how to do it well.
We have decades of experience – and expertise – in just that. In training Great Leaders. In helping people like you, in teams and organisations just like yours, to be the best Leader you can be, with the soft skills, the expertise and experience that you need to succeed. In seeing the bigger picture and understanding the people around you, the strengths that each can bring, and how to bring them together to shape their growth and development both as individuals and as a team.
The best investment you could ever make is in unlocking the full potential of your experts, in broadening the talent and skills that they bring, and shaping the way they will lead every person in your organisation, and the future that you’re all working towards.
Don’t trust your future to the hope that your experts can work out how to lead. The dedication, focus and success that any expert gains from that expertise is proof that they are brilliant at what they do – but remember that it took them years to be brilliant, and that being a great Leader can be taught. Invest in your best people – and reap the rewards of their growth.
Our Leadership Development programmes – including our ‘Expert to Leader’ programme – don’t only bring the expertise of our own people, and the years of experience we have in the training and development of leaders everywhere. We shape every programme around your people. Around the specific skills and experience you already have, and the traits and personalities of your people. Every programme is bespoke, and built around your goals, your culture, and the values and outcomes your Leaders, their teams, and your organisation as a whole are working towards.
To be the best, you need to work with the best – and embrace the knowledge that each and every expert, every great leader, and every success story, starts with learning something new.
Learning is a universal truth, and those who embrace it, who understand that being the very best – the expert – in one area doesn’t mean you will be the best at everything. We know how to take you there – because we are the best at what we do.
Find out more about our Expert to Leader programmes, or browse more of our Leadership Development programmes, here.
If you would like to know how we can help you to gain the skills that will help you to be a great Leader, just ASK.
Call us today on 01234 757575 or email hello@askeurope.com – and speak to one of our experts about how we will bring out the best in your people.