HBR On Leadership Why Expertise Can Make You a Less Effective Leader
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Jan 1, 2025 
Sydney Finkelstein, a professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and author of "Superbosses," discusses the hidden downsides of expertise in leadership. He reveals how being overly knowledgeable can stifle curiosity and breed overconfidence. Finkelstein stresses the necessity of humility and open-mindedness to combat these pitfalls. By embracing continuous learning and diverse perspectives, leaders can become more effective and adaptable. He shares research-backed strategies that highlight the importance of self-reflection and collaboration over mere technical prowess.
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Expertise Trap
- Expertise can hinder curiosity about new developments, leading to overconfidence in problem-solving.
- This "expertise trap" stems from learning incorrect lessons from experience and over-rewarding existing skills.
Recognizing the Trap
- Recognize the expertise trap in yourself through self-awareness and feedback from others.
- Explore new information sources and consider how your expertise might become less valuable in the future.
Cultivating Curiosity
- Identify core assumptions behind your actions and question their validity.
- Cultivate creativity, critical thinking, and pattern recognition skills to avoid narrow perspectives.
