10 - We Continuously Strive for Expertise in the Areas We Advise

~ We Continuously Strive for Expertise in the Areas We Advise ~

We must strive for expertise in the areas we advise. It might be a business vertical, a set of products, certain regulations, or specific technologies. It might be processes, political complexities, or cultural factors. Whatever it is. Whatever you are responsible for, you must strive for expertise.

An often overlooked, but powerful capability of people in our profession is the ability to learn, and learn fast. Newbies in the field are fascinated by the extensive breadth and depth of knowledge of those who are experienced on the team. For those of us who are experienced, we must pause and reflect on the incredible level of expertise we have already obtained, and realize how skilled we are at obtaining expertise.

Thus, we must recognize our ability of becoming experts as a key skill and capability of our function and teams. We can become experts fast, because we are really good at learning fast. Working effectively in this profession has required it. It’s natural evolution. Survival instinct. We have be experts to survive.

We have to be experts because we are assessing complex areas. We have to be experts because we are effectively challenging and influencing other experts. Our credibility is at stake, and thus our reputation.

We have to be experts because to know what can go wrong, we must know what good looks like. This makes our expertise incredibly important, because it includes both: what good likes like, and what can go wrong, and that is a valuable combination to have.

We have to keep striving for expertise because the environment is changing every day. We have to walk the path of building expertise fast.

We will determine what expertise we need. We will anticipate and develop the expertise before it is needed.

We will acknowledge and celebrate our expertise. We will acknowledge and celebrate our subject matter experts. Everyone in the function will know who our experts are, and what their expertise is.

We will leverage our experts as part of the work we do. We cannot afford to work in a manner where we are not leveraging experts where needed. Our leaders will direct work to our relevant experts. We cannot tolerate ignorance of expertise. We cannot tolerate the potential loss of critical guidance, and value to our firm.

Our experts will anticipate the needs for their expertise. They will advertise their expertise, and they will identify opportunities to apply their expertise across the function. Our experts must remain aware of where their expertise is needed. Our experts will be responsive to the need, and calling for, their expertise. These needs must not be ignored, or delayed. Our experts must take this important responsibility seriously, and fulfill their service to others.

Our experts will create new experts. They will teach their expertise to others based on the greater good of the firm, and the function. They will instill the key principle of being an experts, which is to be of service to anyone wherever, and whenever needed.