As a leader, you won’t always get to control the environments where you’re expected to be successful. Eventually, you’ll be asked to find success in environments where you haven’t had any prior experience, including new departments, areas, or projects, increasing the chances you’re put in situations with people that have more technical expertise.

Many leaders respond to this by pretending to be subject-matter experts and feigning confidence. This is a major reason the Peter Principle is still so relevant. When people are promoted to their level of incompetence, they tend to double-down on their ignorance instead of learning the skills necessary to find success. The discomfort you feel is natural and serves as a catalyst for listening, learning, and expanding your mind, adapting yourself to excel in these environments.

Get a crystal clear understanding of the objectives

Work to gain a clear understanding of the 2-3 key objectives that those around you are using to define success. Is it a number of projects being completed? Is it a certain error rate? Is it to just keep the department functional? What needs to be accomplished this quarter? How about this year?

Sync up with your boss about what they consider success to look like so that you can spend the initial part of your time learning those particular areas. If you already had the technical experience, you could rely on your own judgment and prior knowledge, but absent that, you should avoid improvising. Monitor progress on these objectives regularly so that you can paint a solid picture that will align with the story being told by others.

Have a #2 with strong technical knowledge

Work quickly to establish a 2nd-in-command (supervisor, lead, manager – whatever your organization structure will allow) within the department, someone with experience who can compensate for your blind spots. Empower this person, show them respect, and ensure that you have a strong working relationship. This is the individual you can go to when you don’t understand something or need additional insight. By allowing this person to handle the day-to-day, you can free up time on more critical areas in the department.

Research, shadow, and ask questions

Find classes, certification courses, or other relevant educational tools to supplement your knowledge. If people perceive you as being under-educated on a topic but see that you’re making a strong effort to inform yourself, you’re more likely to get the benefit of the doubt from your team. Let people know that you’re trying to learn more and be open to input on how best to get the knowledge you think you lack.

Shadow your departmental experts. Spend a day or two a month with them and do your best to learn the intricacies of their job. This “I want to learn” attitude will ingratiate you to others and help you learn who the right people are to talk to if you need more knowledge on a particular subject.

In a perfect world, we would all have an abundance of technical skills in every area. We’d never be in over our head or have to accept responsibility for areas where we didn’t have prior experience. Few leaders live in this world. Leadership means accepting degrees of uncertainty and discomfort as you grow and progress professionally. However, even when you walk in completely overwhelmed by what you feel you should already know, there are always actions you can take to increase your chance of success.

Good luck out there.

-Patrick

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