First Choice Authority

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The smartest people in the room are often the least known outside of it. They have deep expertise. Real results. But nobody’s calling them. It’s not a talent problem. It’s a visibility problem.

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Why experts stay invisible

Most experts have the knowledge. What they don’t have is a system for making it visible. Three gaps keep them stuck.

Visibility. Their expertise doesn’t show up where it matters. They’re doing the work but not talking about it. The people who need them most don’t know they exist.

Positioning. Even when they’re visible, they’re not framed as the go-to. Nothing makes them the obvious choice.

Communication. They’re talking at the wrong level. Too technical. Their audience checks out before the insight lands.

I call it the expert’s curse. The deeper you go, the more you forget what it’s like not to know. You skip the basics because they bore you. But your audience still needs them.

Your work won’t speak for itself

In 2007, Joshua Bell — one of the greatest violinists alive — played a $3.5 million Stradivarius in a Washington D.C. metro station. He played for 45 minutes. Over a thousand people walked by. Almost nobody stopped. He made $32.

Two days earlier, he’d sold out a concert hall at $100 a seat.

Same genius. Same instrument. Same music. Completely different result. What changed? Context. Framing. Visibility.

That’s the situation most experts are in. They’re playing a Stradivarius in a metro station and wondering why no one stops.

First Choice Authority means being useful in public. Sharing what you know consistently enough that when the moment comes, your name is already in their head. Not because you asked. Because you earned it.

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