When did we get so comfortable accepting advice from people who aren’t actual subject matter experts? It’s a growing problem that we need to address head-on. The gurus are harming us. Unfortunately, the internet is full of them—real estate experts who have never bought or sold real estate at a meaningful scale (or at all), financial experts with absolutely no credentials, angel investors with no portfolio, and the list goes on.
Don’t get me wrong; it is possible to get good ideas from a variety of sources, and this isn’t a conversation about having a degree. We are in the danger zone right now of too many courses, masterminds, ebooks, and workshops being offered by people who haven’t mastered the disciplines they so vigorously want to sell us.
While I might not know when this trend started, I do have a theory as to why: true experts don’t spend their time building social media profiles because they are too busy doing the actual work. The economics aren’t favorable to dedicating ample time to social media. If you make hundreds of thousands a year giving financial advice, why would you spend time selling workshops for $19.99 online? The answer is, you wouldn’t. When experts aren’t around, the gurus learned that they could fill the void, bringing more style than substance.
Many experts also don’t have the personality to be an online star. Creating content isn’t as easy as it often looks. Many experts actually enjoy being experts, spending their time researching and focusing on their respective disciplines without the desire to share their learnings with anyone who will listen.
There are clear downsides when trustworthy expertise isn’t available to those who need it. This is part of the reason I’m really excited to partner with the MBA Programs at Kennesaw State University. At KSU, the University is filled with experts across various subjects. The professors in the classroom simply know what they are talking about, and as we’ve discussed, the education is affordable. KSU is a great place to build your skill set and expand your knowledge base with reputable sources of information and expertise. There are very few instances where having more credentials will work against you. It’s the same principle as why it is easier to be overdressed for a party rather than underdressed.
So, what needs to happen? First, we need to be more vocal about alerting people within our networks. The gurus often target demographics they believe are least likely to catch on to their hustle. We have to treat these folks with the same energy we have for any other online scam.
Second, we need to redirect our networks to quality resources and highlight people who are producing good content that is substantive and have the credentials to back it up.
If you are an expert, this is the moment! Your community needs you to lend your expertise. This doesn’t mean you need to be a social media star, but consider finding avenues to share what you’ve learned. Your absence is creating room for those who seek to capitalize on the lack of knowledge in our community. Anything that meaningfully adds to the discourse will be helpful. I’m not suggesting you do it for free either—the gurus aren’t.
As we’ve been discussing, this is a critical season. We need access to good information. We need more people building their skills and knowledge base. We need more people calling these folks out for what they are doing to us. The gurus are harming us, but I think the first step to defeating this trend is acknowledging it and never allowing actual expertise to go out of style.
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