Demonstrating your Expertise

You also demonstrate expertise by accumulating a history of successes.

Like trust, expertise enables you to build credibility. People see you as having expertise when you exercise sound judgment that proves you’re knowledgeable about your ideas. You also demonstrate expertise by accumulating a history of successes.

To build or strengthen your expertise, consider the following guidelines:

Research your ideas. Find out everything you can about the ideas you are proposing—by talking with knowledgeable individuals, reading relevant sources, and so on. Collect pertinent data and information to support and contradict your idea so that you are well versed on your idea’s strengths and weaknesses.

Get firsthand experience. Ask to be assigned to a team that will provide new insights into particular markets or products.

Cite trusted sources. Back your position with knowledge gained from respected business or trade periodicals, books, independently produced reports, lectures, and experts within or outside your organization.

Prove it. Launch small pilot projects to demonstrate that your ideas deserve serious consideration. For example, if you’re advocating a new customer-service process for your department, conduct a limited experiment with the process to generate firsthand information about its benefits.

ACTION POINT: Use research, first hand experience and trusted sources to prove your ideas and to accumulate a history of successes.