Are they really an Expert?

Can the real finance experts put their hands up please?

And the rest, please sit down.

I will admit there is some really good advice and some great content on here.

But wow is there a lot of crap as well.

From so called experts in their field.

Who have had 218 days of experience. About half of which they spent on Linkedin.

And I find it massively irresponsible of any finance person who is on here to just take what people say as "good advice".

Solely because the person posting has gone to the effort to put out there what is often just an opinion.

Their opinion.

From their context.

Or it's been stolen from a real expert and been packaged up as some surface level crap that is of no use once you start digging into it.

And it could be argued it's not going to be helpful to you or your career

In fact it could be harmful

So I thought I would compile a list of 3 things I look for when choosing whether to follow, like, connect or even read the postings I see that are on Linkedin.

In short is this person I am reading a post on, worth listening to.

Here are three things I look for........

Number 1.......Do they make a living off what they talk about?

This is the number one giveaway as to whether someone is an expert or not.

If you are great at what you do, and your advice works, then you would monetise it.

Why would someone go to the effort to post things on here if they weren't looking to monetise it?

If you are doing that you are either masquerading as someone who has a "higher purpose" (and good on you by the way), or your ego is so far out of control you need to get a pedestal to get yourself down from the pedestal you are sitting on top of a pedestal on.

Admittedly there is some great posts of things people do at work, or something they stumbled across they wanted to share and those are always helpful.

But if you are an expert......and you are regularly posting on LI.......and you are not making a living off it........then your advice must not be that great.

And as for curated content. It's helpful. But all the time, that's not an expert. That just tells me you don't know what's good and what's not and the person’s content you have curated is the expert not you.

And you’re the middle man.

And nobody likes the middle man.

The best way to spot if someone makes a living off their expertise....simply check the persons experience. It's fairly obvious if someone is posting their thoughts as a side hustle.

They will have a job and it will often say "xxx-Present" in their experience section.

If they are a true expert they will be making a living off what they talk about and it will be highlighted in their experience section as their job.

There are lots of people starting on Linkedin as a side hustle. I know I did. But that's not an expert, that's a side hustle.

Until it's the main gig, beware. They may be on the path to expertise, but they are not there yet as they simply are not dedicating the amount of time needed to be one.

Number 2.....Is their advice simple, succinct and targeted?

Any expert in the world will have spent years honing their craft and part of that crafting is to get your message, your techniques and your frameworks chiseled down into something simple.

Something simple, easy to use and easy to follow.

Not something that is 38 things to do to get x, like throwing mud at the wall and hoping something sticks.

Nobody has time to remember or even do 38 things to improve themselves and if someone is spruiking long lists of things to help, then they are not an expert.

They are throwing darts with a blindfold on, hoping to hit a bullseye......looking for someone to say “yeah number 7, that's awesome”.

Great I will now write a post about number 7.

Beware the long lists of more than 2-3 things to help you.

The simple things done over and over again for a very long time are often the things that work.

We just miss them as they are disguised as hard work dressed up in overalls.

So if you find yourself reading list of 50 things you must do to become a CFO, just keep scrolling.

Or 287 excel tips to try today, just keep scrolling.

An expert tells you the main one. The big one. That's easy to do and has huge returns.

A cookie cutter approach to these sorts of things often doesn’t work. It's the freedom in a framework that does and experts provide that fencing for you to apply to your situation.

Experts are also often very niche. They have chosen an explicit topic, area or problem to focus and dedicate their career to.

They don't generalise, they don't talk about a really broad topic, and they certainly don't chop and change between topics under the proviso of jack of all trades, master of none.

No, experts focus on a specific thing. And if you want help with that thing, you go to them because they are the best and they do it all day every day.

If you had a sore knee, you might get some small relief from going to the GP. But if you really want it fixed, go and see the knee specialist. The person who looks at knees all day. They will be able to help you pretty quickly. Whereas a GP will experiment sort of knowing but not really knowing because they haven't gone deep enough on it.

Remember when you went to the specialist last. They made it seem so simple didn't they. Yes because they do it all of the time.

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Number 3.....Do they have credibility/authority to talk about what they talk about?

The amount of postings I read in the finance world titled "X things to do if you want to become a CFO" by people who have never been a CFO is disturbing.

I never became a CFO, but I came pretty close. But I was a GM and a leader of multi functions and now I work with a lot of CFOs. And we all know those lists are crap.

They are written by middle managers on how to become a great middle manager.

Which is ok.....but a CFO is something different.

This is just click bait, it has no credibility and certainly no authority.

Instead you want to look for people who are posting about things that they have credibility in.

And not random testimonials and recommendations from Joe in that company in Timbuktu.

Or Awards from organisations that don't really mean a lot against competition that nobody has heard of either. That's an award you paid someone for.

Anyone can ask for those these days, in fact you could do a course on how to get them. You just hand out your work for free and ask that in return they provide a testimonial. Done.

Like your reference check for a job. You give out the names of the people who like you the most. Not the least.

It looks great and is awesome “social proof”......but that’s a persuasive technique and not necessarily reality.

Instead look for who these people associate with. You are the average of the 5 people you hang around with.

If this person is linking in the same names, commenting and liking on the same people's posts, and making long lists of who to follow, it's fair to say they are part of a group who "look after" each other but aren't real experts

I know because when I started doing what I do I was asked to join one. And I quickly got out of it as it was all a mask.

Because real experts don't need to do that.

There work speaks for itself and can stand alone.

I did research for 18 months and wrote a book on my chosen area. It was really hard. But it was solid and ground in what works and what doesn't.

Ever tried to write a book. Its really hard. But the biggest win of doing it is that it solidifies your thoughts in a succinct way - and provides clarity that those who haven't done don't have.

So look for people who have some credibility. They have either done what they are talking about for a long time and they have qualifications in it or are supported by the bodies that provide those qualifications.

How to be an excel guru by a Financial Modeller - tick great.

How to do data analytics by a mathematician or statistics guru - tick great

How to become a CFO by a CFO - tick great (no CFO would actually write that post though!)

People who write books or articles for reputable magazines/publications - tick great

How to be an Financial Modeller by John from YouTube - not so much

How to do Data Analytics by your maths teacher - not so much

How to become a CFO by Mark the IT Analyst - not so much

People who write blogs and publish them on others website – not so much (that’s an SEO trick called backlinks by the way; really good for your website)

So just ask are they really credible, or do they just sound credible. Because let's be honest even ChatGPT can craft a decent message these days.

I did this post on it.

No I didn't

Or did I.....hmmmmm

So next time you find something great on Linkedin and you think this is going to help me, just take a second look. And ask yourself…….

-???????Does this person make a living off this

-???????Is their message simple, succinct and targeted and

-???????Are they credible and have authority

If the answer is no, take it with a grain and salt

If the answer is yes start following that person. They will help you.

If they are a real expert you will see it in their experience, the clarity with which they write and the authority with which their work comes.

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