Professional expertise

• A real dilemma for new managers and many experienced ones.
• You got where you are with stellar knowledge and technical expertise. Do you want to give that up? Is this what you revert to when the going gets tough?
• For new managers, it is an uncertainty about your basic identity. Do you want to be a coach on the sidelines or do you want to remain where the action is, being a hero scoring goals as you always did?
• Some established managers never fully resolve this dilemma, hence not being very good at either role - expert or manager.
• Experts delight in offering their solutions to team members. They want to stay involved in solving technical problems. Coaching - drawing solutions out of others does not come naturally to them.
• How can you strike a balance that is right for you, your team and the organization?
• Can you re-frame your role along one of the following lines:
  • Broker - knowing someone else who can do it.
  • Manager - not a doer, but a coordinator.
  • Coach - help others to think differently.
  • Facilitator, catalyst - link people to other resources.
  • Leader - show others the way forward.
  • Mentor - help others learn to work smarter.
  • Trainer - show others how to help themselves.
• How can you adapt your identity to include other roles such as these?
• It might be easier to let go of some of your need to maintain your professional edge as you gain more confidence in another role.
• It's unrealistic to expect anyone to like a new role fully until they've tried it over a significant period of time.
• Can you do the two in parallel? This is easier than giving up what is most dear to you for the uncertainty of a role you might not like.
• Can you balance the strategic needs of the organization with your need to retain some of your professional identity without diluting yourself too much?