Shades of ‘Expert’ Grey
December 2, 2010 by Cat Matson
By Cat Matson, Alito
Many of my clients consider me an expert. I am often asked to speak as an expert on a variety of topics. And my tribe refer to me as an expert.
I know I know a lot about the areas that others consider me an expert in. But I really struggle to think of myself as an expert.
I don’t think I’m alone.
Expert is such an absolute noun. For me, it suggests there is no other person who knows more than the expert. That’s a pretty tall order. It suggests (to me anyway) that the expert knows everything there is to know. But how can anyone know everything there is to know about anything?
The way I see it, there are shades of grey – shades of expert grey, where as we acquire more expertise the shade gets darker as we become ‘more’ expert than we were yesterday, last week or last year. But do we ever reach an absolute black? Or do the incremental increases in greyness become finer and finer, until no-one but us can detect the darker shade?
So how dark does your shade of grey need to be before you consider yourself expert? For me, I’ve decided it’s when my tribe and my clients tell me I am. When they come to me for insights, expertise and knowledge in a particular area where their shade of grey is lighter than mine.
What do you think? Do you consider yourself an expert? Or do you struggle with the title like I do? How ‘deep’ a shade of grey does your expertise need to be before you own your expert status?
Or have I got it wrong – do our shades of grey actually lighten with deepening expertise, like a a black-haired young beauty, greying to silver-white as she ages with experience, knowledge and wisdom?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CAT MATSON
|
|
Cat Matson - AlitoCat Matson ignites the performance of small business owners, their teams and ultimately their businesses through a range of robust mentoring, coaching and education programs. She is a strong advocate for practical, pithy and ‘real’ business advice and loathes the ‘one-size-fits-all’, ‘you-too-can-be-widely-successful-if-you-just-follow-OUR-system’ approach taken by many ’so-called’ business experts. Cat runs Alito with her husband Keith who provides synergistic and smart accounting expertise to their clients who enjoy having streamlined business advice across all key areas. When not working, Cat enjoys spending time with her two young boys and reading interesting business books and biographies.
|
Great pondering point, Cat.
I much prefer the idea of becoming silver with experience and wisdom. I think of an expert as a shining light … a lighthouse … a candle in the darkness of my ignorance.
I’m an expert when it comes to my clients, but I sometimes feel very inadequate with my peers and mentors – I still have so much to learn and experience.
What I think contributes to our expert status are our humility and ability to say, ‘I don’t know – but I’ll find out and get back to you.’
Keep your ‘Alito spark’ shining to help us along a sometimes-treacherous path.
Desolie