The Expert Trap Webinar
What happens when the expertise that made you successful starts holding you back? This webinar explores how to escape the “Expert Trap” and expand your influence, value and impact.
Building on our three-part blog series, this webinar explores the “Expert Trap”: how highly skilled professionals can become so valued for their expertise that their progression begins to feel limited.
Hosted by Matt Rawlings MCBI, Director of Education and Membership Engagement, with insights from Alistair Gordon, CEO of Expertunity and The Expertship Institute, and Mike Walker MCBI, Expertship Coach and Facilitator, the session will look at how experts can move from being the go-to problem solver to increasing their influence, shaping decisions earlier and creating wider organisational impact.
Attendees will leave with practical ideas for recognising where the Expert Trap may show up in their own work, and how to start expanding the reach and value of their expertise.
Please click here to register for the Teams Webinar
Matt Rawlings
Matt Rawlings is an experienced leader in membership and engagement, currently serving as Director of Education and Membership Engagement of the Chartered Banker Institute, with over 30 years of experience in the banking sector.
His career spans delivering high-impact transformation programmes and developing a deep understanding of customer relationships, value delivery, and organisational growth, expertise he now brings to the membership environment. With a strong focus on education and professional development, Matthew leads the strategic design and delivery of programmes that support lifelong learning across the banking profession. He is passionate about ensuring education remains relevant, accessible, and aligned to evolving industry needs, helping individuals build capability, confidence, and ethical practice throughout their careers. Specialising in creating data-informed strategies that drive retention, engagement, and long-term value.
He has a particular interest in the full membership lifecycle, from acquisition and onboarding through to engagement and reactivation, and in aligning organisational purpose with member needs. Known for combining strategic thinking with practical delivery, Matthew helps organisations turn insight into action. At this conference, he brings a fresh perspective on how education, engagement, and community can come together to build sustainable, member-focused organisations.
Alistair Gordon
Alistair Gordon is a CEO, executive coach, master facilitator and entrepreneur, based in Sydney, Australia. He works globally with large organisations to build the capability of their leaders and their technical subject matter experts. He runs a group of three companies, and previously ran a A$200m division of an ASX 100 media company.
With a past background in media and technology, through Expertunity and the Expertship Institute Alistair specialises in helping technical experts get the development they need to maximise their influence, impact and work fulfilment. He has worked with more than one thousand technical experts from 16 countries. Alistair is a global thought leader in this space – Expertship – and co-author of the seminal book on the topic, Master Expert. He regularly appears on podcasts around the world espousing the benefits of Expertship.
Alistair is also CEO of HFL Leadership, a regional leadership development firm. In this role he is an in-demand executive coach and senior leadership facilitator.
He has delivered learning programs for experts in large organisations in New York, London, Oxford, Sydney, Wellington, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and most other Australian capital cities.
Mike Walker
Mike Walker is a highly experienced International Banker having worked overseas in a broad range of Senior Executive roles with a Global financial institution. He also works as a senior executive coach in both Expertship and Leadership.
Mike has been instrumental in the successful completion of multiple high value high complexity projects playing a key leadership role during transformation in large sophisticated expert teams.
After a long and successful career in International Finance which included postings to Malta, Georgia, Armenia, Switzerland,
Bermuda and most recently India over a period of 17 years Mike has moved full time into Expert Coaching. As a recognised leader in high value projects Mike was responsible for major change in expert teams focussed on Relationship Management, Operations, Risk, Finance, Change Management, Compliance, Audit. For all of these Global Executive roles the common thread is The Customer.
Are you caught in the Expert Trap?
You were hired for your expertise and promoted for it, and people rely on it every day. But is it still moving your career forward, or is it starting to hold you back?
This 3-minute self-reflection draws on our three-part blog series by executive coach Mike Walker MCBI. Score each statement honestly.
Take the next step: join The Expert Trap Webinar
Wednesday 14 October, 10:00am (BST)
Online via Microsoft Teams. Free, with 500 places available.
Put your questions directly to Mike Walker MCBI (Expertship Coach and Facilitator) and Alistair Gordon (CEO, Expertunity & The Expertship Institute, and co-author of Master Expert), hosted by Matt Rawlings MCBI, Director of Education and Membership Engagement.
- Recognise where the Expert Trap shows up in your own work
- Learn how experts shape decisions earlier and widen their impact
- Leave with practical ideas you can apply straight away
Bring your score. Which statement hit hardest? That's a great question to ask on the day.
Calculating your results
Add up your scores (12–36).
12–18: Expertship in action
You’re already turning expertise into influence by shaping decisions, building capability and sharing knowledge. The next step is to multiply that impact across your organisation. Join the webinar to hear how other experts have done it, and bring your own experience to the conversation.
19–27: Edging towards the trap
You’re making a real difference, but some habits may be limiting how far your expertise reaches. These habits might include being consulted late, holding on to work or relying on detail to persuade. The good news is that small shifts can make a big difference. The webinar will help you spot where the trap shows up in your own work and what to change first.
28–36: Caught in the Expert Trap
Your expertise is highly valued, and that’s part of the problem. You may be the go-to problem-solver who is stretched thin and brought in too late to shape the outcome. The trap isn’t permanent, though, and escaping it doesn’t mean learning more. It means using what you already know differently. This webinar was made for you.
Take the next step: join The Expert Trap Webinar
📅 Wednesday 14 October, 10:00am (BST)
💻 Online via Microsoft Teams. Free, with 500 places available.
Join Mike Walker MCBI (Expertship Coach and Facilitator), Alistair Gordon (CEO, Expertunity & The Expertship Institute, and co-author of Master Expert), and host Matt Rawlings MCBI (Director of Education and Membership Engagement). They’ll explore how experts move from being the go-to problem-solver to shaping decisions earlier and creating wider impact.
You’ll leave with practical ideas to recognise where the Expert Trap appears in your work, and how to expand the reach and value of your expertise.