A week or so ago, I received a direct message on Twitter from China Gorman, the COO of SHRM asking me if I wanted to be on a panel about HR blogging. This is a person I never talked to on e-mail before much less had a phone conversation. So to say I was a little surprised is an understatement.
When I talked to her on the phone later that week, I definitely knew I wanted to speak on this panel. She said she liked my blogging, that I was well respected in the community and that I would be a perfect person to be on the panel. People that want something from me sometimes say really nice things about me or what I’ve done with my little corner of the web. I believed she was sincere though since she didn’t care that I was a non-member and there are plenty of great SHRM members who have really great blogs.
What can I tell SHRM annual conference attendees about blogging that they don’t know already? How did I become an “expert” in a crowded field?
Here’s a little secret I hope you won’t tell SHRM: I’m not. Of course, I don’t believe many of the recognized or self-proclaimed experts out there are really experts either. Here’s why:
There are people out there that are better bloggers than me. They blog more frequently, they write provocative titles, they follow up on every single comment and they comment on other people’s blogs consistently. If I was telling a person how to write and build a blog out there, this is the generic advice I would say helps a person out. Yet, these are the areas I am the absolute worst at.
There are also people out there that are much better at HR than me. They have more experience, they enjoy the day to day more than me, and they’ve been through major fires and come back with just a few burned eyebrows. I really envy that experience.
This isn’t just a me problem though. The top recognized bloggers out there aren’t the best in their field or the best bloggers. They just aren’t.
So why is a guy who isn’t the best blogger or the best HR person considered an expert in HR blogging? I have three ideas I’ll leave you with today:
- I can communicate my ideas with clarity – If you can get past the occasional grammar mistakes, it isn’t hard to see that I can communicate complex ideas fairly well. That makes up for a lack of experience or lack of decent blogging ability. It also makes up for the fact that my blog posts are way too long.
- I have learned more than I have taught – What makes my blog interesting to me is how much I personally gain from the knowledge I get from readers or from people I’ve made connections with through this blog. Not a week goes by anymore where I don’t speak with someone on the phone from a connection I’ve made here.
- I am authentic – I have been told I write here like I talk and act in real life. When people speak to me for the first time, they say that talking to me is like talking to my blog. I like to tell stories, I can sometimes be long winded and I like to joke about being perfect (among other things). I love HR and being a part of the field but I’d rather be at a Blazer game or in my hiking boots in the Columbia River Gorge.
So there’s my secret. And my guess is that many of the so-called experts out there are in the same boat as me. That’s why I always caution people when they follow thought leaders so closely. Whether they admit it or not, you are probably smarter than them in a lot of ways.
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I’ve always thought the idea of the ‘expert’ was somewhat outdated. With the amount of information available to anyone, the need for experts has truly diminished. I think most people now just want to be told, or have information filtered in a way that they are comfortable with.
Here’s a few more reasons why you’re an expert:
-followership (readers/recognition)
-leadership (your role with HRM Today)
-attitude of competence
We have a flawed definition of expert. Maybe the better term is leader these days, as Norcross sort of points out. But congratulations anyway you expert!
I’ve seen a lot of expert bashing lately and admittedly with good reason, but I want to push back somewhat. At its most basic, an expert is someone with experience.
Andrew, to your point, that’s the role of an expert when it comes to advice or consulting, to serve as a filter and a short-cut to getting to an informed decision without the need to process everything along the way.
Most people look to experts as having some authority but don’t take what they say as gospel.
Oops, I see now that Eva made a similar point. Great minds, Eva… ; )
Good points Lance. It’s for those same qualities I’ve chosen to follow the couple bloggers I do including your’s.
There was an interesting article regarding experts in Money (Feb 2009). Basically, a prof of organizational behavior at UC-Berkeley researched forecasting skills of experts and found they barely beat a random forecast generator.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/17/pf/experts_Tetlock.moneymag/index.htm
There are so many so-called “experts” these days that I essentially take everything I hear or read (especially on the Internet) with a 50-pound bag of salt. But to your point Lance, I agree that we all are experts in our own way. I’m an expert in my field just as all your readers are in their respective positions.
what an honor!! way to go. and thanks for sharing your secrets. I love the part about learning from others. Keep those blogs coming.
An expert should be evaluated and their past work and experiences looked into. Only then can they be called an expert.
Lance: You may very well be an expert. I don’t know. . . and that’s because I don’t know enough about HR blogging to assess your expertise. I’m skeptical. I suspect that most people in any field don’t know how to select the experts from those who are merely competent. And it really does take some expertise in a field to know who the real experts are.
In any instance, revel in the choice.
The need for experts had not diminished what has diminished is the ability to process the torrent of incoming information and as result the number of folks claiming the expert status has been consistently on the rise.
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