How To Turn Yourself into an Expert

Posted on November 14, 2014

Too many managers and leaders spend all their time and effort using what they already know to help their company.  That sounds like a good thing, and it is in the short term.  The problem is that soon the company grows, and needs new ideas and solutions.  The manager who has not anticipated this and has not grown their own knowledge base is less able to help their company.  That’s bad for the company and bad for their career. This article gives specific, practical steps for any manager or executive to put themselves on a self-guided learning program.

I remember an embarrassing moment at the beginning of my career when I was struggling with a difficult dilemma and was innovating solutions.  I went to my boss, who said, “Have you gone to the library to see if there is a book on this topic?”  I hadn’t, and was fully embarrassed when I discovered several books with known best practices, available for all!

Today you don’t even have to go to the library to discover great ideas and solutions.  Here are some simple ideas you can choose from to increase your own level of expertise in any area you choose.

1. Spend 20 minutes looking for a book.  Go online and start searching.  Buy the best book you can find and read it.  Even tackling one chapter a week is a good start.
2. Go on Google and search for articles in your area.  Spend an hour finding authors/bloggers that write well and have relevant advice.  Follow them and read what they write.  Comment on their stories regularly so they get to know you.  (Here are two of my favorites, at Forbes and HBR. ) Then call them/e-mail the author to get to know him/her better.  Most will gladly answer simple questions (like suggesting books or other resources).
3. Find a trade journal or relevant periodical and read them online or subscribe to them.
4. Join your professional association.  Go to local meetings.  Develop a few friends with whom you can share ideas and challenges.
5. Go to an event where the topic is relevant.
6. Reach out into your own network, and ask for introductions.  For example, “I’m trying to investigate automating a warehouse.  Say, “Rob, do you know anyone who knows something about this whom I could call or go to coffee?”
7. If you want to supercharge your learning, collect your thoughts and write them down.  After reading a chapter/article/meeting someone, write down a few things that you heard about that you are already doing well, and the best 2-3 new ideas you learned, that you might actually try.

There are many more ideas for learning, but these are a start.  I find learning fun, and miss it when I get bogged down with other activities.  Like anything, setting goals for learning and allocating time and resources to it will generate better results.  Consider:

1. Deciding how many hours a month you should spend learning, and track your investment of time against that goal.
2. Creating a plan for the year. (Read one book a quarter, join one association and solve x, y and z problems.)
3. Promise your peers/boss that you’ll publicly share your learning efforts and key takeaways each quarter.  Then you’ll create your own pressure to follow through.

I have always considered the self-guided learning I do to be an investment in my career and my future.  The fact that my company benefited from it was a nice side-effect.  My employer served as my own living case study, from which I could experiment and learn.  While I always want to do a great job, I remember crisply when, at around 25 years of age, I realized that my real job was to become the best CEO I could be—at least in the top 5% (not that this could really be measured).  I’m still striving to be my best, learning every day from the people around me and sharing that knowledge through writing, consulting and mentoring.

Great ideas and knowledge have never been as accessible as they are today.  Make self-guided professional development a habit and watch your career and your company blossom.