Expertise + Humility

Do you consider yourself to be an expert in anything? If so, in what? If not, why not?

In my own leadership journey, I have faced a lot of resistance with owning my expertise.

I used to believe that claiming expertise was at odds with humility; however, I’ve come to evolve my perspective to appreciate that the choice need not be an “𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳/𝘰𝘳” dilemma. Expertise and humility can coexist beautifully.

A key for me was in realizing that we need not orient to these values at their extremes.

For example, let’s take the practice of deferring/sharing credit for a job well done. This can be a powerful leadership practice that centers an appreciation for collective efforts.

However, if deferring credit becomes the only approach for a job well done, and leaders don’t get parallel practice in receiving and appreciating praise, we risk ending up with an organizational culture where the benefits of giving praise can’t fully 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 anywhere because they are consistently being deflected. Over time, deflecting praise can lead to increased invisibility or resentment.

Likewise, a valuing of one’s own expertise can ensure that one’s gifts and strengths are brought into the light so they can be honored, valued, seen, and invited into service.

However, if a leader 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 centers their own expertise at the expense and exclusion of others, over time, this approach also risks increases in invisibility or resentment for the collective.

Let’s instead focus on a “both/and” approach. Here are a couple of exercises to step into 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 expertise 𝗮𝗻𝗱 humility.

𝗧𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲:
1. List 3 areas where you’ve had a lot of practice and chances to hone your skills. Then...
2. Try saying the following statements out loud, filling in the blanks with one item from your list. Take a full inhale and exhale in between each sentence and let the words land in your body: “𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 _____. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 _____. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 ______. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 _____.”

𝗧𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆:
1. Identify 3 people whose work, or way of being, has positively impacted you recently. Then…
2. Try sending each person on your list a text or voice note that celebrates one of their gifts. Use the word “expertise” to describe their strength. For example: “𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘟 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴.”

Each one of us has valuable lived experience behind us, which is full of lessons, skills, and strengths. When we allow others to see our gifts, and we see and celebrate the gifts of others, beautifully balanced exchanges can be possible.

Here’s to letting go of the extremes and taking hold of our collective expertise. We have so much of it to share.