The same mistake is made over and over again. People who are very capable on a technical level are promoted to roles in which they must lead other people, without being given the training or development to step up into those roles. It’s true for doctors, engineers, nurses, salespeople, lawyers, builders, plumbers, academics, and the list goes on.
One of the biggest problems is that the skills and strengths that make experts exceptionally good can be the very skills and strengths that make them struggle with leadership.
Experts have a degree of comfort in their work. They have achieved a level of excellence by honing their skills and learning how to achieve predictable outcomes. They have developed strengths that have now been embodied and are part of their identity. Letting go of some of those strengths and developing new skills and strengths to take their place as a leader can be daunting; the transition means not just new skills but potentially a change in identity. If you are an expert, looking for the path to become a leader, you can rest assured: while some of the strengths that got you to where you are now might need to be unlearned, there are also strengths in your expertise that apply to your ability to lead. Read this book to find out how to transition from expert to leader.