From employee to industry authority (2), By Yemi Adetayo

Don’t spend your entire career simply climbing the corporate ladder, while remaining unknown outside your office. Don’t retire with decades of experience that nobody can benefit from because you never documented, taught or shared it. Don’t allow your knowledge to disappear when your employment ends. Build something bigger than your job. Build expertise. Build relationships. Build credibility. Build a body of knowledge. Build a reputation for solving problems. Build people. Build platforms. Build influence. And above all, build a legacy.

“The future depends on what you do today.” — Mahatma Gandhi

There is a significant difference between having a job and building a professional legacy. To become an employee, you may need the requisite certification, skills, knowledge, experience and the right attitude. You apply for a position, go through the recruitment process, get hired and begin your career. You learn the job, meet expectations, receive your salary and hopefully progress through the ranks.

Becoming an industry authority requires much more. An employee is paid to perform a role. An authority becomes a reference point. An employee occupies a position; an authority occupies a place of influence. An employee contributes to an organisation; an authority contributes to the industry. When people have questions, they seek the authority. When organisations need expertise, they call the authority. When emerging professionals need direction, they look up to the authority.

The good news is that industry authority is not reserved for a privileged few. Anyone can become an authority if they are willing to know what to do and do what it takes. The journey begins with a decision.

1. Get a career vision. That is where success begins.

Before you become an industry authority, you must first see yourself becoming one. Vision is one of the most important requirements for meaningful success in career and life. Without vision, you may spend years working hard without knowing what you are ultimately building. You can have a job without having a vision. You can receive a salary without having a destination. You can be busy every day and still be moving nowhere significant.

This is why you must ask yourself a deeper question: Beyond my current job title, who do I want to become in this industry? Do you want to become the person people consult? The person organisations invite to speak? The professional whose opinions shape conversations? The expert who trains others? The author whose books influence the next generation? The consultant who solves difficult industry problems? You must see it before you can systematically build it.

Your current job should not be the boundary of your professional ambition. It should be the laboratory in which you develop the expertise, experience and credibility required for the larger contribution you intend to make. Don’t merely work for a company. Build yourself while working for the company.

2. Join the Right Professional Association

There are professional associations in every field. Find the ones relevant to your profession and become a member. But understand this: membership alone does not make you influential. Some professionals join associations, pay annual dues, attend an occasional meeting, collect certificates and disappear until renewal time. That is membership. Authority requires active participation.

Join a committee. Volunteer for a project. Contribute an idea. Attend conferences. Network with professionals outside your immediate organisation. Ask questions. Share your expertise. Offer to help. Volunteer to speak when opportunities arise. There is tremendous professional capital hidden in service.

When you serve, people get to know you. When you contribute, people discover your competence. When you consistently add value, people begin to trust you. And when trust and competence meet consistently over time, you influence becomes visible.

Greatness is often hidden in the place of service. That committee you are avoiding may introduce you to people who will open doors you never knew existed. That professional conference where you volunteer may become the platform from which your expertise is discovered. Don’t just join a professional body, become active, participate. Beyond participation, contribute. And don’t stop there, take the lead.

3. Become a Specialist

You cannot become an industry authority by being a professional who knows a little about everything but is known for nothing. Develop an area of specialisation.

Find the problems your industry is struggling with and become deeply knowledgeable about solving some of them. Read widely. Take courses. Attend conferences. Study emerging trends. Research your field. Follow industry developments. Learn from experts. Experiment. Reflect on your experiences. Most importantly, turn experience into expertise.

You have encountered situations that somebody else is encountering for the first time. You have made mistakes that could save someone years of frustration. You have discovered approaches that work. You have seen what fails. Document these lessons. Your experience becomes more valuable when you can convert it into knowledge that helps other people perform better.

4. Use Social Media as a Professional Platform

You no longer need to own a television station, newspaper or publishing company before your ideas can reach thousands of people. With smart phone, you can now reach the world. You can publish from your phone.

Platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and other digital channels have created unprecedented opportunities for professionals to share knowledge, experiences, insights and perspectives. Use them wisely and adequately.

Write about what you know. Explain difficult concepts. Share lessons from your career. Comment intelligently on industry developments. Tell stories about challenges you have overcome. Share practical solutions. Someone somewhere may be struggling with the very problem whose solution you have already mastered. Your experience could become somebody else’s breakthrough.

Do not underestimate the power of a thoughtful article, a useful LinkedIn post, a short video or a well-articulated professional opinion. You may think nobody is reading. Keep writing. Keep sharing. Keep adding value. Influence often begins quietly before it becomes visible.

5. Become a Mentor

One of the clearest signs that you are growing professionally is your willingness to help others grow. There are people around you who need what you know. At work, someone may need guidance. A younger professional may need career direction. A student may need someone to help them see possibilities beyond their current circumstances. Someone on social media may need the lesson you learnt through years of experience.

Make yourself available. And don’t only tell people about your successes. Tell them about your failures too.Your victories can inspire people, while your failures will instruct them. Tell them about the opportunities you missed. Tell them about the decisions you got wrong. Tell them about the lessons you learnt the hard way. Tell them what you wish someone had told you when you were starting.

There is power in saying: I have been there. I made that mistake. Here is what I learnt. Mentoring is not only about transferring knowledge. It is about transferring perspective too. Sometimes, the greatest evidence of your professional growth is not how many people know your name, but how many lives are better because you were available.

6. Write. Teach. Publish.

If you want to become a major influence in your industry, develop the discipline of sharing knowledge publicly. Write articles. Start a professional blog. Contribute to industry publications. Write research papers. Develop training materials. Speak at conferences. Teach courses. Eventually, write a book.

Writing forces you to organise your thinking. Teaching forces you to understand your subject deeply. Publishing creates a record of your ideas. A book can travel where you cannot. An article can remain accessible long after a presentation is forgotten. A recorded lecture can educate people you may never meet.

Every time you write something useful, you are leaving a piece of your professional thinking in the world. Don’t die with your knowledge inside you. Package it. Share it. Teach it. Publish it. Let your knowledge outlive your job title.

7. Build Influence Before You Need It

One of the greatest mistakes professionals make is waiting until they need visibility before they start building it. They wait until they want a promotion before developing relationships. Don’t wait. Build your professional reputation now.

Your employer gives you a platform to gain experience. Your profession gives you a platform to build expertise. Professional associations give you opportunities to serve. Social media gives you a platform to communicate. Mentoring gives you an opportunity to multiply your knowledge. Use all of them. Your goal is beyond just becoming famous. Your goal is to become valuable, credible and trusted.

Visibility without value is noise. But when visibility is built on competence, character, contribution and consistency, it becomes influence.

The Industry Is Waiting for You

Don’t spend your entire career simply climbing the corporate ladder, while remaining unknown outside your office. Don’t retire with decades of experience that nobody can benefit from because you never documented, taught or shared it. Don’t allow your knowledge to disappear when your employment ends. Build something bigger than your job. Build expertise. Build relationships. Build credibility. Build a body of knowledge. Build a reputation for solving problems. Build people. Build platforms. Build influence. And above all, build a legacy.

The world does not merely need more employees. Every industry needs professionals who are willing to think, innovate, teach, serve, solve problems and raise the standard of practice.

Your industry is beckoning. Will you make yourself available? Don’t just be an employee. Become an industry influence.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” — John Quincy Adams

Yemi Adetayo is a leadership consultant, counsellor and transformational catalyst. He can be reached through: [email protected]