A recent question posted on a LinkedIn group discussion made me chuckle. Someone asked:“How do you become an expert?”
It brought to mind a conversation I had with my daughter the other day about being cool. A young girl in her class was going around telling people she was cool. I assured my daughter that if she were really cool, she wouldn’t be the one telling you so – you would know. Other people would be telling you that she was cool. Cool, as it is, is often in the eye of the beholder. The same goes for experts.
Contrary to what many PR folks would have you believe, you can’t just decide to be an expert, take a class and make it so. Oh, it might work at first but it won’t last unless you can prove yourself. You have to earn the title. Other people must concur. You must take action to build your reputation as an expert. So how can you help make it happen? Following are some steps you can take to boost your Expert Quotient (EQ):
- View yourself as the expert. Although this is not sufficient to become an expert, it certainly helps if you believe it. From the movie Caddyshack: “Be the ball (expert), Danny. Be the ball.”
- Focus on being consistent with your mission / brand. If you don’t walk the talk, the Fraud Police will put out an alert on your missing authenticity. Actions, it turns out, DO speak louder than words.
- Write articles (or a book) and speak credibly about the topic. Experts often share new and insightful information, ideas, or analysis about their subject. Get into potentially controversial debates on the topic on which you claim to be expert. Bring up new and different points about it – provide a different way of looking at something. Writing a book can help, but only if it is done well. A badly written or poorly published book can actually have the opposite effect on your EQ.
- Get references from others. Only through other’s eyes can you be seen as a true expert. Quotes in the press or (even better) unsolicited testimonials from other experts, recognized clients or other respected experts in your field boost your EQ almost instantly.
Unfortunately, it also does take time and accomplishment to be an expert. It’s hard to convince someone you’re an expert in entrepreneurship, for example, if you’ve never actually been successful at being one. I’m amazed, however, at how many people try. Some are actually able to pull it off, too. I suspect, however, that people in that position will have short-lived EQ. I’m all for the power of positive thinking, but at some point, you also need to take steps to make things happen. Thought without action just isn’t always enough!
