Spoiler alert (😉): Being an expert.
If you’re building your own business, leading a corporation, or heading a complex project, it’s key to let go of the “expert” mindset. While your expertise may have gotten you to your current role, clinging to it at higher levels can actually cause you to fail.
In short, C-Suite leaders need to embrace this mantra:
**Don’t BE an expert – LEAD the experts.**
Shift your focus to becoming an expert in leadership. Trust, empower, and inspire the experts around you, and guide them effectively, rather than trying to master every detail yourself.
📚 Case Study: The Expert Lawyer Turned C-Suite Leader
A new C-Suite executive of a publicly traded company came to me for an initial session. Having been an expert lawyer all his career, he was recently promoted to lead six additional functions outside of his legal expertise.
His knee-jerk reaction was to dive into learning every detail about these new functions. He dedicated early mornings and weekends to studying, reading, and gathering information, trying to master those new business areas.
This approach was leading him to burnout, and he was on a fast track to failure. Through our discussion, it became clear that his “topic-expert approach” would backfire. Instead, he needed to focus on becoming an expert in leading others – ensuring he had the best leaders reporting to him, asking powerful questions to help guide their expertise, and trusting them to make the right decisions.
In short, what brought this CXO to his current level of success – being an expert – would have led him straight to failure in his new, high-visibility post.
Kathryn Minshew, co-founder of The Muse, advises against being a “7/10” in many things and suggests aiming to be “10/10” in at least one area. While this approach can be valuable in early career stages, at the C-Suite level, it’s more critical to be a 10/10 in LEADERSHIP rather than any one specific business topic.
Would you agree? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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