When someone else gets that promotion, wins the pitch or books the speaking slot, most of us have asked ourselves why they were picked over people who were just as good, or better.
It’s an uncomfortable question, and the honest answer usually has little to do with who knew the most.
Expertise and authority are easy to confuse, but they aren’t the same thing.
Expertise is what you know, and it comes from years of practice, study and finished work.
Authority is what other people believe about what you know, and it depends on whether they’ve seen what you do. Plenty of skilled people put all their effort into the first and assume the second will take care of itself.
It often doesn’t.
A hiring manager can’t shortlist someone they’ve never heard of, and a client can’t rely on skills they’ve never seen in action. We’ve spent a long time working with professionals in many different sectors, and the same thing keeps turning up: once the client knows your expertise is there, you’ll often win the work.
How are you showing your expertise to those around you?
