Not an Expert, Just a Leader
If I can name one thing I dread the most in the past few years as a leader, it would be opening up my email inbox.
When it was time to open my email, I would feel my body tense up, my anxiety level rising, and run from it. This level of anxiety was built up over time and enhanced by my email-checking experiences. 95% of my emails are filled with confusion, dissatisfaction, frustrations, and anxious energy. I tracked my email for 2 weeks and arrived at 95%. No wonder I have anxiety opening up my emails.
As an educator and a leader, I can answer many questions, but many questions stun me. I felt paralyzed when I read emails that asked questions meant for experts in their fields. To put these questions in context, in the past few years, California has endured drought, forest fire, and storms, plus all the national and global crises such as a global COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, school shooting, racial equality, and many others. So the questions I received included:
At what point is the air bad enough that you will prevent my child from playing outside?
What are the long-term consequences in language development when you ask the children to wear a mask to school?
Why is closing the door and using the air conditioner better than opening the door for my child who can’t be vaccinated yet?
Why are there only three skin colors in your display? How could you not display more colors to include more people?
How will you deal with my child’s lack of motivation and anxiety about school?
and this question really got to me: “Who made you an expert?” I was shocked at first. But when I think about it a little bit more. I realized that no one made me an expert. I wouldn’t call myself an expert. I am not an expert on the respiratory system nor am I an expert in any medical field. And that’s okay. It is okay to be an expert. I wasn’t hired to be an expert, I was hired to lead.
What’s the difference?
What makes a person a leader? A follower. As long as I have influence over at least 1 person, then I am a leader. The qualities that make a leader attractive include integrity, making someone feel they belong with you, and clarity of where we are going. In the midst of crises and emergencies. What makes someone a leader is someone who can state the direction, and at least one person follows. I do not need to be an expert in knowing the cause, prevention, and the best way to deal with the crisis. I can lean on other people’s expertise, take their perspectives into consideration, and make a decision with confidence and conviction. If there are people who will follow me, that makes me a leader.
Knowing I am a leader, not an expert, allows me to focus on listening, asking questions, learning from other experts, and soliciting perspectives. I can ask questions boldly and accept myself for not knowing everything. As a result, I feel freer and more relaxed about leading without the burden of needing to be an expert.