I Wasn't the Expert. I Was the Translator.
Why the most valuable person in the room isn't always the one with all the answers.
In this post, I’m going to share a story with you.
One of my first assignments as a Senior Instructional Designer years ago was to develop a training program on labor relations.
To say that was intimidating would be an understatement. I wasn’t a labor relations expert. Before my first meeting with the Subject Matter Expert (SME), I knew I was walking into a difficult situation.
In addition to not being a labor relations expert, there was something else working against me:
I was an outside hire.
If you’ve ever worked in an organization with a strong legacy culture, you know exactly what I’m talking about. There were employees who believed specialized positions belonged to people who had spent years…sometimes decades in the organization.
Before I ever opened my mouth, I already represented an outsider taking something that another employee was entitled to; whether they had the skills or not.
The Collision
I scheduled our introductory meeting, logged into Microsoft Teams, smiled, and introduced myself.
“Good morning. My name is Shannon. I’m the Senior Instructional Designer assigned to your labor relations course, and I’m looking forward to working with you.”
He didn’t smile back. He didn’t ease into the conversation. He came out swinging.
“Why do I need to work with you? You don’t know anything about labor relations. How are you supposed to develop a training when you’re not even an expert?”
I’m not going to lie—my heart started racing. But instead of becoming defensive, I took a deep breath and I agreed with him.
“You’re absolutely right. I’m not a labor relations expert.”
I paused, letting that sink in.
“But I am an expert in adult learning. I have a master’s degree in instructional design. My job isn’t to replace you.
My expertise is in translating your expertise into something the non-expert staff can understand, remember, and apply.”
Something interesting happened right there on the screen. He got quiet.
He leaned back in his chair. After a few seconds, he simply asked:
“Okay... what do you need?”
From that moment forward, everything changed. We collaborated, we built the training, and after it successfully launched, he came back to thank me and apologized for how our first meeting had gone.
Why Am I Telling You This?
I’m not sharing this story to vent about a rude encounter. I’m sharing it because the dynamic that played out in my career happens in yours, too.
Here is what that meeting taught me about human behavior, professional friction, and true leadership:
Confidence doesn’t require pretending to know everything: Confidence begins by knowing what your expertise is—and what it isn’t. I didn’t need to fake being a labor relations expert because I was rooted in my identity as an instructional design expert.
Agreement defuses defensiveness: Sometimes the fastest way to lower someone’s guard isn’t to argue; it’s to acknowledge the truth in what they’ve said. When someone feels unheard, they fight. When someone feels understood, they collaborate.
Every organization has two cultures: There’s the culture they teach you in orientation, and there’s the culture people actually live every day. Because I understood the lived legacy culture before I walked into that meeting, I didn’t take his resistance personally. If you ignore the lived culture, you’ll misunderstand everything.
No experience is ever wasted: At the time, I thought my previous career in customer service were something I had to survive. I didn’t realize it was a masterclass teaching me essentials to be successful in my new career such as, emotional regulation, conflict management, empathy, and active listening.
The Art of Expertise Translation
That meeting was one of many experiences that contributed the passion I have for decoding the inner workings and application of expertise.
Experts don’t need someone who knows what they know. They need someone who can help other people understand what they know.
Those are two completely different skill sets.
When organizations confuse the two, training fails, knowledge gets trapped in silos, and leaders wonder why their teams aren’t getting results.
There is no learning without translation.
There is no collaboration without mutual respect.
And there is no great training until someone bridges the gap between simply knowing and actually understanding how to apply knowledge.
Sometimes, the most valuable person in the room isn’t the one with all the answers. It’s the one who knows how to make those answers transferable.
If you've ever had to prove your value before anyone gave you the chance to offer it, hit the heart ❤️button. Sharing this post will help the next person walk into their own hostile meeting a little more ready.
About Shannon
Shannon D. Smith, CPTD is the founder of the publication Untrap Your Expertise and Expertise Untrapped™ is a research and design studio dedicated to understanding how expertise develops, why it becomes invisible, and how it can be translated into systems that help other people learn, perform, and succeed.
She is committed to helping experts and organizations uncover the invisible expertise that gets left out of training, courses, and knowledge transfer so learning sticks, performance improves, and results become repeatable.
For more information on her work visit: www.shannondsmith.com