Does a Leader Need to Be an Expert?

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  Communications Management   Leadership   Talent Management  

I recently had an interesting discussion with a project manager who had taken on a new position and was feeling insecure because she was no longer the most knowledgeable person on the team. Previously she had developed a reputation as not just a solid project manager, but as a very strong leader who was able to inspire confidence in her teams. This new position that she had accepted was in a new industry, and she was concerned that her lack of industry knowledge would undermine her leadership abilities. In particular, she was concerned that her teams wouldn’t respect her because she didn’t know as much about the company and its products as they did.

This leads to an interesting discussion when it comes to project management--what exactly is it about project managers that make them “good” or “bad” leaders? Certainly it’s a combination of different factors--personality, integrity, communication skills, etc., but is expertise a requirement of a good leader?

Is expertise always a good thing?
As we develop through our careers--whatever profession we choose--we develop and hone our skills, and add practical experience to theoretical knowledge. Over time, that becomes expertise--and while it’s not an absolute value, we reach a level where we are looked up to for our abilities within a field and are considered experts by our …

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