When Expertise Isn’t

A few months ago a fellow economic developer who has been around for decades posted on LinkedIn his confusion as to how some with less or no expertise/experience get hired. Most of us regardless of the sector have had a moment were we wondered how someone got a job so it was really just him verbalizing and/or validating a lot of others on LinkedIn pondering the same question. The answer resides in we live in a world that has shifted into often placing value on appearance over expertise.

Personal brand was not a thing that was discussed and leaned into prior to social media becoming a thing, because who would have even known outside your local circle of influence! Marketing existed sure, but self promotion rooted in ‘your brand’ less so. Your brand was your character and maybe the company/organization you worked for. That’s not a judgement or commentary on which path is the path that’s most desirable, it’s just a fact.

Good, bad, or indifferent we now live in a world where everyone has a platform if they want it through a myriad of social apps, and related opportunities. I don’t even want to think about what AI does to amp up people’s ‘expertise’ on these platforms. I was in a meeting a few weeks ago where someone who I know for a fact is an expert on the topic that was being discussed wasn’t asked or engaged in the conversation. Instead it was egos and those branding on the topic that dominated. That is going to end up in a loss of opportunities, resources, and dollars. People’s ability to ‘appear in performance mode’ is most often not the same as people’s ability to execute and accomplish.

We have all heard and/or seen someone who has minimal experience/expertise speak as an expert and in our heads heard things that they’ve said that we know are not true. All this is to say as we all have more on our plates than possible to handle the temptation is to believe that what we see is actually true. Unfortunately however just because someone can write or speak well doesn’t mean they can lead on a topic or lead people well. Leading involves engaging others and if someone is mired in their own brand/branding their focus may not be on engaging or staying curious.