The Accolade is ceremony to confer knighthood. You all know what I’m talking about, right? You’re down on one knee and the sword comes down to gently touch your shoulder, and declare or confirm your knighthood.
Today, I’m handing out Accolades. Today, I’m helping you declare yourself the expert of your field.
Here’s the thing, if you’re providing value to someone, then you need to view yourself as the expert. I’m willing to meet you in my backyard, raise my giant sword, and do knighting.
I grant you the power to profess this. Let’s make the decision Right Now that you are the expert.
The caveat of course, is that it MUST be supported. Just calling yourself an expert isn’t enough.
You need to support your expertise with the work you do; the things you say; the places you speak; the places you publish; the clients you work with; the testimonials your clients give you; the referrals you gather; etc etc.
Charlatans not welcome. Fake it until you make it has never worked out in the long run.
The good news is that if you can do it, then congrats. You’ve got an incredible career ahead. Forge on! Apply SPEED. Put the pedal down and GO.
If not, then start seriously thinking about it.
How can you become the #1 expert in your field? Last time I looked there were over 60,000 social media strategists and “experts” on Twitter! Enough to fill a football stadium.
60,000+ Social Media Strategists!
Yet it only took me a short time to find less than a dozen that were actually supporting the claims. That’s the key. I’m happy to grant you the accolade, no problem. But if it’s not supported, then who really cares?
The paparazzi might be able to spot you in a football stadium if you’re topless, but if everyone else is wearing yellow and fake cheese on their heads, it’s almost impossible to spot you.
Knights hang out on the field.
