Breaking the technical ceiling: how an expert can go from specialist to strategist - with Alistair Gordon of Expertunity

Oct 21, 2025

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#216: Alistair Gordon is the founder of Expertunity, and a world-renowned authority on subject matter experts. He explains why talented specialists get stuck doing low level work, the skills specialists need to advance their career, and the options specialists have for career progression.

What you’ll learn

[02:05] The signs that you’re hitting a ceiling in your career.
[04:58] Why some high-level workers get stuck doing low-level work.
[08:30] The options specialists have for career progression.
[13:11] The skills specialists need to build to advance their career.
[15:21] How enterprise skills enable specialists to add more value.
[17:37] The most important enterprise skills to learn.
[20:48] How to justify spending time on non-essential tasks.
[23:50] Why technical experts aren’t good at training.
[25:35] How specialists can develop their stakeholder engagement skills.
[29:20] How to move from low-level tasks to an understanding of the higher aims.
[32:20] Why you should ask for the reasoning behind the tasks you’re asked to do.
[35:20] The power of asking the right questions.
[36:50] The restraints specialists have placed on them.
[44:42] How specialists can make others understand the value of their work.

Resources mentioned in this episode
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For the show notes for this episode, including a full transcript and links to all the resources mentioned, visit:

https://changeworklife.com/breaking-the-technical-ceiling-how-an-expert-can-go-from-specialist-to-strategist/

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