By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
Can a leader become too confident in his/her own abilities as they develop expertise? A new graduate recently talked with me about her manager who she felt was closed to new ideas. When this new graduate made suggestions, she was immediately shut down. The leader told her that she lacked the experience to understand the complexities of the unit.
In this month’s Harvard Business Review, Sydney Finkelstein, a Dartmouth researcher, and professor contends that leaders can be overconfident in their skills as they develop more expertise. This happens because a leader’s viewpoint can begin to narrow if they spend less time learning and interacting with their team. It is so easy for time-stretched leaders to fall into the trap of relying more heavily on their own judgment to solve problems. To break the pattern, leaders should cultivate more modesty and continually remind themselves of their own intellectual limitations. Some telltale signs that you may be in the leader expertise trap include the following:
- Lack of familiarity with new technologies or approaches.
- Reverting to the explanation – “we’ve always done it this way.”
- Spending more time thinking about the risks of something new than opportunities.
- Reliance on the same strategies to address new challenges.
- Inability to retain Millennial staff.
Finkelstein has studied strategies to avoid the leader expertise trap. He has found in his coaching that leaders who can check their egos and allow their assumptions to be challenged by others can effectively break themselves of the expertise trap. He also recommends that if leaders commit to continuous learning, they can avoid the trap of being intellectually cloistered. Getting opinions from your novice staff is another way of gaining new insight. Reverse mentoring on new technology from young Millennial staff is a strategy that many expert leaders successfully use. Finkelstein believes the best leaders are vulnerable and willing to reflect on and learn from their mistakes. Using these strategies, we can cultivate a beginner or rookie mindset to accompany our expert perspective.
Read Rose Sherman’s new book available now – The Nurse Leader Coach: Become the Boss No One Wants to Leave
Read to Lead
Finkelstein, S. (May-June 2019). Don’t be blinded by your own expertise. Here’s how to broaden your outlook. Harvard Business Review. Executive Summary.
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