5 Ways To Tell An Expert From A Know-it-All
J.T. O'Donnell
Founder & CEO, Work It DAILY | Board of Directors, McCoy | Career & Professional Development | Job Search | HR & Recruiting | Employer Branding | Recruitment Marketing | Talent Management | Executive Coaching
[NOTE: After reading this post, please take a minute to check out the 21-Day Challenge: Crossfit For Your Career. I think you'll find it useful.]
The rise of personal branding has made us all acutely aware of how important it is to be known for our skills. Today, we're all businesses-of-one that must be able to effectively share our accomplishments in order to prove our value. [If you don't know what your workplace value is, this simple online quiz can help you.]
Being a Jack or Jill-of-all-trades doesn't cut it. You need to know your specialty, a/k/a your expert status as a way to prove can solve problems and alleviate pain better and faster than your peers. And, if you're a job seeker, you better have the entire suite of tools designed to validate your personal brand (i.e. resume, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, blogging, personal website, etc.), or your claims will be suspect.
As a result of all the personal branding going on, it can be tough to tell who is the real deal, and who is a poser. Personal branding has gotten slick, and many less qualified individuals are making themselves look pretty darn successful. In my own experience trying to figure out who is an expert, and who is just a know-it-all, I've found some key differences. They are as follows:
#1 - Experts ask. True professionals know to ask questions before they dive into providing advice. They seek more information so they can tailor their answer. Know-it-all types tend to have a superiority complex (this INC article explains more), and as a result, will want to dive in to telling your their opinion without much thought or consideration.
#2 - Experts admire other experts. Experts understand the amount of time and work that goes into becoming a subject-matter specialist. The more accomplished they become, the more humble they are. They tend to admire many others in their space because they understand they aren't the only expert on the subject. The know-it-all doesn't like competition. They see other experts as a threat. Ever notice how true experts love to share the work of their peers on social media? That's the sign of someone who is confident in their abilities and understands the importance of having colleagues who share their passion.
#3 - Experts offer options. Experts don't believe in "one size fits all" advice. While they'll offer insights, tips, and methodologies to help you improve, they'll always try to articulate who best benefits, encouraging those that don't to seek additional help. Meanwhile, the know-it-all will be quick to tell you it's his way or no way, often using extreme all-or-nothing statements to make you almost afraid not to take their advice. Whereas the expert will encourage you to seek multiple opinions and points of view so you can make an informed decision.
#4 - Experts give a lot of value away (for free). Experts aren't afraid to share their work. They freely give away their best advice and resources so they can earn your trust and respect. The know-it-all tends to be all hype and zero substance. They're great at agitating the problem you are having (i.e. point out what is wrong repeatedly), but fail to really give you any advice that can be practically applied.
#5 - Experts are consistent. Not only do experts give a lot of good advice for free, but they do it in a way that lets you rely on it over time. They have so much to give, they can do it with consistency. They deliver value frequently, helping you to trust them faster. The know-it-all doesn't have an endless supply of valuable advice to provide you. Thus, they use other tactics, like commiserating with you and trying to act like your best friend. A know-it-all tells you what you want to hear, while an expert tells you what you need to hear.
How Do You Spot An Expert? Tell Me...
I'd like to hear from readers how you determine who is an expert? What are the signs? Also, feel free to share the names of experts you admire in the comments below. I'm always looking for new people to follow on LinkedIn and welcome your suggestions!
PS - Have we met yet? First, thanks for reading my article! I have the honor of being the CEO of CareerHMO.com. Besides writing for LinkedIn, I also write column for INC Magazine is called "Workplace Referee." I invite you to click below on some of my most popular articles:
8 Workplace Personas - Which One Are You?
3 Reasons Millennials Are Getting Fired
How to Get 1,000,000 Followers on LinkedIn
7 Signs You Should Take That (Scary) Risk
9 Signs You Should Run From That Job Offer
Paid Media Specialist at Gartner
7 年Spot on title J.T. Personally, I look at what they focus on when selling themselves. If a social media expert is pointing to their clicks, shares, etc. or even awards I'm not impressed. Anything quantity-based doesn't mean much to me because it's fairly easy to manipulate social media so their numbers look good, especially if the person's going after the masses. If someone can point to examples I can look at and share their conversion metrics, though, then they gain more credibility. Writing's a big one too. With you, the "expert" title clicked in my mind after following Careerealism for awhile (the tagline is what struck me initially because it was so perfect for your audience) and reading your writing. You pull from your own experience and are willing share moments of vulnerability in your articles which I feel gives me and others a fuller picture of what you're about and where you stand on different topics. Also, I think true experts are self-aware of their place in the market. They're able to pinpoint what it is they're an expert of. If someone wanted to learn how to source talent, for example, then the expert who would be most valuable to teach them how to source via the internet wouldn't be as useful to them if they're looking to source via phone. Maureen Sharib's done a good job identifying her market/niche. If a person's up to date on the "people to know" in recruitment, they would go to Maureen for phone sourcing training just like someone wanting to better source on the internet would turn to Irina Shamaeva
Senior Lecturer- Organization and Strategy at Rotterdam Business School
7 年This is true, experts are humble and always ready to share their experiences and they also learn from others .
Open to Hybrid Roles "Developer, Data Analyst, Business Analyst" | Strategic Business Analytics, Development, Support.
7 年Option # 2 is very hard to achieve these days. Considering most have to sign an NDA or a Secrecy contract as part of their position. If anything you have to discuss hypothetical situations and only in verbally and in a non-contextual applicable focus.