Are you giving away your authority without realizing it?
In this episode of The Scalable Expert Podcast, Tara tackles a critical question that could be holding back your growth: Are you the expert or just the messenger for someone else’s framework?
If you’ve ever found yourself referencing another expert’s book, system, or certification more than your own insights, you might be unintentionally giving away your authority. Tara breaks down how to use tools, models, and certifications without diminishing your own expertise and how to build a proprietary framework that positions you as the clear leader in your space.
Whether you're certified in someone else's methodology or piecing together ideas from different mentors, this episode will help you stop diluting your value and start owning the approach that’s already yours.
🎯 Key Takeaways:
- The difference between being an expert and an ambassador
- How to reference others without giving away your authority
- Why your unique experience is your proprietary framework
- How to position your framework as the foundation of your business
📌 Chapters
- 00:00 – Intro: Are you giving away your authority?
- 00:25 – Using industry models inside your own work
- 01:01 – Why your approach is already unique
- 01:43 – Referencing others vs. claiming your method
- 02:30 – The danger of deferring authority
- 04:04 – Case study: Certified coach stuck behind someone else’s method
- 05:24 – How we helped her frame her unique contribution
- 06:40 – Women, confidence, and over-referencing others
- 07:12 – Anchor your expertise in your proprietary framework
- 08:00 – Expert vs. Ambassador: Know the difference
- 09:04 – A John Maxwell coach example (and why it fell flat)
- 10:25 – What owning your framework actually looks like
- 11:11 – Invitation: Let’s define your framework together
About Me:
Hey, it’s your host, Tara Bryan. And I am on a mission to help more business owners learn to infinitely scale their businesses by leveraging the power of online without sacrificing the customer experience or results.
I like to geek out on all things business strategy, marketing, interactive digital and user experience. This podcast is all about what is working, lessons learned and actionable tips to create and grow a thriving online business.
Join us each week as we dive into different strategies, tactics and tips you can apply immediately to your business.
To learn more:
Find us at https://www.taralbryan.com
Here are two ways we can help you create, grow and scale your business:
1. Want to package your expertise or become a Scalable Expert? Take our free quick assessment to see how close you are to creating a scalable business.
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Download our free 50 Ways to Engage Your Customers guide or Schedule a 30 minute call with Tara to talk about our offers that will help you master the game.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tara Bryan (00:00):
Welcome to The Scalable Expert, the podcast where we unlock
(00:03):
the secrets to building a businessthat grows with you, not around you.
I'm your host, Tara Bryan, businessstrategist, mentor, and creator
of the INFINITE SCALE Method.
If you're a coach, consultant, orservice provider who's maxed out
with one on one work, overwhelmed bythe grind, and ready to scale your
expertise into a business that worksfor you, then you're in the right place.
(00:23):
Each week I'll share actionabletips, inspiring success stories,
and proven strategies to help youreclaim your time, grow your income,
and create a business that deliversresults without sacrificing quality.
Let's dive in and make yourbusiness INFINITELY SCALABLE.
Hey everybody.
Welcome to today's episode.
Let's talk about givingaway your authority.
(00:46):
So one of the biggest things as you aresetting your proprietary methodology
is really looking at like, what is yourapproach and how do you help people
in a way that's unique to you andyour expertise when you are helping
them go from the problem they have tothe result that they're looking for.
So one of the things I wanna talk aboutis, you may actually use a different, you
(01:11):
know, like an industry standard approach.
You may have gotten some parts andpieces of the way that you help
customers from different books that havebeen written by other people, right?
And so you may reference theirmethodology, you may reference
the book that they've written.
You may reference industry standard.
(01:33):
Sort of framework that youhave as, a, it's a standard
approach that's in the industry.
However, at the end of the day, youhave developed a unique way to put
those together to be able to teach orhelp your customers go from point A to
(01:54):
point B in, the fastest way possiblebased on how you've done it in the
past, based on your expertise, basedon how you uniquely look at how to
solve that problem for your customers.
So first and foremost, you reallyneed to believe that you have a
proprietary methodology that's uniqueand different from someone else.
(02:19):
And so that's the veryfirst thing to look at.
The second thing is if you are usingother resources, other books, other
systems, other approaches, and you'rebringing them all in to your own unique
methodology, that's fine, but then don'tspend the rest of the time giving away
your authority by giving that author allof the credit for your whole methodology.
(02:48):
So I have a customer and she is,building out a full program where
she's helping people and as she's goingthrough and teaching it, she's saying,
well, I, I, I took and I browed thisapproach from this person in this book.
And so, I mean, I took it, I kind oftweaked it and made it my own, but
it's really this person's framework.
(03:10):
And so I encourage you to be reallycareful around that because the way that
your customer's hearing that is thatthey're hearing that it's not yours and
that you haven't done anything uniquewith it, and you've just stolen someone
else's intellectual property and put itinto your program and called it your own
right, which is not usually ever the case.
(03:32):
I mean, there are some people who justcopy other people and just use their
approach and move forward, but in mostcases, if you are an expert and you've
created your own proprietary framework,you have used somebody else's model or
framework in your approach, and you'vebeen able to put together a unique way
(03:52):
that you're helping your customers.
So if that's the case, like just referencethat person, don't claim that it's your
own model, that's totally fine, but don'tgive away your authority in the process.
And so reframe the way that you'retalking about that and say, I learned
that initially from this book, or thisauthor, or this expert, and I've been
(04:15):
able to incorporate it into my practiceand help my customers by doing X, Y, Z.
That's unique from kind of the,you've taken that initial model and
added onto it or made it your own or,you've created something else on top
of it based on your own expertise.
(04:38):
And so just really think about thatif you are giving away your authority.
Like I have another client who'scertified in someone else's approach.
That's amazing, right?
That is a tool that she's used tobuild her business but she has way more
expertise than just this one approach.
(04:58):
So when she started and she was like,this is what I'm teaching, and it's
just taking this guy's methodologyand implementing it for her customers.
She was diminishing her ownexpertise that she was bringing
to the table around this model.
So as we built out her authorityframework, she realized that there is a
(05:20):
whole section that is unique to her andher experience and how she can help her
ideal customer not only, apply this modelthat he's teaching, but really take it
to the next level with her unique way ofviewing the model, how she incorporated
(05:41):
it into her business, and then whatresults she actually got from it.
And so instead of saying, well, thisis this, she was able to say, this is
a tool that I use as I was building mybusiness, and so I'm gonna help you.
Start with the tool so that you can makethe same decisions that I made and then
we're gonna talk about how to, incorporatethose decisions in your business to get
(06:02):
to the result that you're looking for.
So it becomes a part of theprocess, not the whole thing.
And so if you are using otherpeople's models or approaches,
again, reference them.
Don't take them and call them your own,reference them, but then talk about
how you've been able to take it tothe next level, apply it differently,
(06:23):
your experience in how you took itand made it into something else, that
is your unique approach, your uniqueway of doing it, and how you are
adding value on top of that approach.
Don't tell me that it's this approachso that I can go and just buy
that approach over there, right?
There's something else that's uniquethat you are bringing to the table.
(06:47):
Call that out and always call it out whenyou're mentioning different resources.
I think especially for my women viewers,this is something that we tend to do
is because we don't want to, we don'twanna, brag is not the right word, but
we don't wanna stand confident and bragabout our own expertise, we wanna like
(07:07):
help raise other people's expertise.
But that is what's gonna makeyou stand apart and give your
customers the confidence that youhave what it takes to help them.
And so just remember that if you findyourself always referencing other experts
as you're going through your proprietaryframework, just recognize your unique
(07:31):
view on that, your expertise that you'vebrought to the table or what that looks
like and don't just naturally say,oh, I took it from here and how I was
able to just add it into my program.
There's a reason you're adding it in theorder, in the way that you are adding it.
Again, go back to the bigger frameworkof anchoring your authority, not theirs.
(07:51):
So hopefully that helps if you are findingyourself not sure how to incorporate
someone else's framework into your work,it's a tool that you've used to grow or
transform your business or whatever it isthat you are helping your customers with,
it's a tool within the bigger approach.
It's not the only thing thatyou've used to become successful.
(08:16):
If it is, and you in fact have onlydone that one thing, then great.
You are an ambassadorof that other expert.
You are not an expert yourself.
And so know the difference because the waythat you show up, you may think that you
are helping, or giving yourself authorityby talking about the other person, but
your customer is perceiving it as youdon't have that authority yourself.
(08:39):
So let me just give you one example justto bring it home I was at a presentation,
oh geez, about six months or so now ago,and this woman was a John Maxwell coach.
And so she was speaking to a room fullof people and she mentioned John Maxwell
and she was a John Maxwell coach.
And she talked about John Maxwell'sapproach and how she goes out and
(09:02):
helps her customers, and in JohnMaxwell's approach and all the things.
It was all about John Maxwell.
And so my question was like, why wouldI hire her when I can just go to John
Maxwell and get coaching from him?
What is she bringing to the tablethat's different than John Maxwell?
And I'm sure she was very talented andshe had a growing consulting business and
(09:26):
she probably had something that was herown that she brought to the table when she
became certified as a John Maxwell coach.
However.
The entire hour, all she did was giveaway her authority, she kept talking about
him and his approach and all the things.
And so don't do that.
You are an expert inand of yourself, right?
(09:49):
So if you're a John Maxwellcoach, that's amazing.
What is the uniqueness thatyou bring to his methodology?
That's your expertise.
That is your, ultimately,your authority framework.
It's not John Maxwell's certificationprogram that makes you who you are.
What makes you who you are is howyou've taken his approach and how you've
(10:13):
actually helped customers with it.
And I guarantee that the way that youdo it is slightly different than the
way that he shows up or the way thatall of his other coaches show up.
Your job is to identify what that lookslike and then create the bigger framework.
So when you are going on this journey,if you've been certified in someone
(10:33):
else's approach, if that's whereyou've started or you've read lots of
books and you have lots of differentapproaches that you use to implement
with your clients, really think abouthow you've knitted those together.
Really think about the unique valuethat you provide when you show up.
Because I guarantee that what you aredoing, how you're thinking about it,
(10:54):
how you've gotten results, how youhelp your customers, how you show up
for your customers, whatever it is,is unique and special and is something
that sets you apart from someone else.
Your authority framework is justbeing able to articulate that and
then use it to help other people.
You know what I would've loved tohave seen in that presentation is for
(11:17):
her to own her expertise, own how sheshows up and say, and I got my start
by becoming a John Maxwell certifiedcoach, 'cause it gave me the tools and
resources to be able to start helpingmy customers, and then from there I
was able to evolve into my own way thatI showed up uniquely to help people.
(11:40):
That's a different expert statement.
That is a different way to show upas an expert and represent yourself.
And so again, if this is you, Ichallenge you to go through that.
If you are struggling with that andyou're like, I know what you're talking
about, but I'm not exactly sure how thatwould work for me, in the show notes
is a link to a free discovery call.
(12:00):
Jump on a call with me.
Let's talk through that a little bit.
Because my goal is to help you elevateyour expertise, not grab somebody
else's and use their expertise,which just increases their authority.
Let's increase yours as you startto grow and scale your business.
If you loved this episode, please feelfree to share it with someone else.
(12:22):
Give us a rating or subscribeif you are watching on YouTube.
Until next week, have a great week.
Welcome to The Scalable Expert, the podcast where we unlock
(00:03):
the secrets to building a businessthat grows with you, not around you.
I'm your host, Tara Bryan, businessstrategist, mentor, and creator
of the INFINITE SCALE Method.
If you're a coach, consultant, orservice provider who's maxed out
with one on one work, overwhelmed bythe grind, and ready to scale your
expertise into a business that worksfor you, then you're in the right place.
(00:23):
Each week I'll share actionabletips, inspiring success stories,
and proven strategies to help youreclaim your time, grow your income,
and create a business that deliversresults without sacrificing quality.
Let's dive in and make yourbusiness INFINITELY SCALABLE.
Hey everybody.
Welcome to today's episode.
Let's talk about givingaway your authority.
(00:46):
So one of the biggest things as you aresetting your proprietary methodology
is really looking at like, what is yourapproach and how do you help people
in a way that's unique to you andyour expertise when you are helping
them go from the problem they have tothe result that they're looking for.
So one of the things I wanna talk aboutis, you may actually use a different, you
(01:11):
know, like an industry standard approach.
You may have gotten some parts andpieces of the way that you help
customers from different books that havebeen written by other people, right?
And so you may reference theirmethodology, you may reference
the book that they've written.
You may reference industry standard.
(01:33):
Sort of framework that youhave as, a, it's a standard
approach that's in the industry.
However, at the end of the day, youhave developed a unique way to put
those together to be able to teach orhelp your customers go from point A to
(01:54):
point B in, the fastest way possiblebased on how you've done it in the
past, based on your expertise, basedon how you uniquely look at how to
solve that problem for your customers.
So first and foremost, you reallyneed to believe that you have a
proprietary methodology that's uniqueand different from someone else.
(02:19):
And so that's the veryfirst thing to look at.
The second thing is if you are usingother resources, other books, other
systems, other approaches, and you'rebringing them all in to your own unique
methodology, that's fine, but then don'tspend the rest of the time giving away
your authority by giving that author allof the credit for your whole methodology.
(02:48):
So I have a customer and she is,building out a full program where
she's helping people and as she's goingthrough and teaching it, she's saying,
well, I, I, I took and I browed thisapproach from this person in this book.
And so, I mean, I took it, I kind oftweaked it and made it my own, but
it's really this person's framework.
(03:10):
And so I encourage you to be reallycareful around that because the way that
your customer's hearing that is thatthey're hearing that it's not yours and
that you haven't done anything uniquewith it, and you've just stolen someone
else's intellectual property and put itinto your program and called it your own
right, which is not usually ever the case.
(03:32):
I mean, there are some people who justcopy other people and just use their
approach and move forward, but in mostcases, if you are an expert and you've
created your own proprietary framework,you have used somebody else's model or
framework in your approach, and you'vebeen able to put together a unique way
(03:52):
that you're helping your customers.
So if that's the case, like just referencethat person, don't claim that it's your
own model, that's totally fine, but don'tgive away your authority in the process.
And so reframe the way that you'retalking about that and say, I learned
that initially from this book, or thisauthor, or this expert, and I've been
(04:15):
able to incorporate it into my practiceand help my customers by doing X, Y, Z.
That's unique from kind of the,you've taken that initial model and
added onto it or made it your own or,you've created something else on top
of it based on your own expertise.
(04:38):
And so just really think about thatif you are giving away your authority.
Like I have another client who'scertified in someone else's approach.
That's amazing, right?
That is a tool that she's used tobuild her business but she has way more
expertise than just this one approach.
(04:58):
So when she started and she was like,this is what I'm teaching, and it's
just taking this guy's methodologyand implementing it for her customers.
She was diminishing her ownexpertise that she was bringing
to the table around this model.
So as we built out her authorityframework, she realized that there is a
(05:20):
whole section that is unique to her andher experience and how she can help her
ideal customer not only, apply this modelthat he's teaching, but really take it
to the next level with her unique way ofviewing the model, how she incorporated
(05:41):
it into her business, and then whatresults she actually got from it.
And so instead of saying, well, thisis this, she was able to say, this is
a tool that I use as I was building mybusiness, and so I'm gonna help you.
Start with the tool so that you can makethe same decisions that I made and then
we're gonna talk about how to, incorporatethose decisions in your business to get
(06:02):
to the result that you're looking for.
So it becomes a part of theprocess, not the whole thing.
And so if you are using otherpeople's models or approaches,
again, reference them.
Don't take them and call them your own,reference them, but then talk about
how you've been able to take it tothe next level, apply it differently,
(06:23):
your experience in how you took itand made it into something else, that
is your unique approach, your uniqueway of doing it, and how you are
adding value on top of that approach.
Don't tell me that it's this approachso that I can go and just buy
that approach over there, right?
There's something else that's uniquethat you are bringing to the table.
(06:47):
Call that out and always call it out whenyou're mentioning different resources.
I think especially for my women viewers,this is something that we tend to do
is because we don't want to, we don'twanna, brag is not the right word, but
we don't wanna stand confident and bragabout our own expertise, we wanna like
(07:07):
help raise other people's expertise.
But that is what's gonna makeyou stand apart and give your
customers the confidence that youhave what it takes to help them.
And so just remember that if you findyourself always referencing other experts
as you're going through your proprietaryframework, just recognize your unique
(07:31):
view on that, your expertise that you'vebrought to the table or what that looks
like and don't just naturally say,oh, I took it from here and how I was
able to just add it into my program.
There's a reason you're adding it in theorder, in the way that you are adding it.
Again, go back to the bigger frameworkof anchoring your authority, not theirs.
(07:51):
So hopefully that helps if you are findingyourself not sure how to incorporate
someone else's framework into your work,it's a tool that you've used to grow or
transform your business or whatever it isthat you are helping your customers with,
it's a tool within the bigger approach.
It's not the only thing thatyou've used to become successful.
(08:16):
If it is, and you in fact have onlydone that one thing, then great.
You are an ambassadorof that other expert.
You are not an expert yourself.
And so know the difference because the waythat you show up, you may think that you
are helping, or giving yourself authorityby talking about the other person, but
your customer is perceiving it as youdon't have that authority yourself.
(08:39):
So let me just give you one example justto bring it home I was at a presentation,
oh geez, about six months or so now ago,and this woman was a John Maxwell coach.
And so she was speaking to a room fullof people and she mentioned John Maxwell
and she was a John Maxwell coach.
And she talked about John Maxwell'sapproach and how she goes out and
(09:02):
helps her customers, and in JohnMaxwell's approach and all the things.
It was all about John Maxwell.
And so my question was like, why wouldI hire her when I can just go to John
Maxwell and get coaching from him?
What is she bringing to the tablethat's different than John Maxwell?
And I'm sure she was very talented andshe had a growing consulting business and
(09:26):
she probably had something that was herown that she brought to the table when she
became certified as a John Maxwell coach.
However.
The entire hour, all she did was giveaway her authority, she kept talking about
him and his approach and all the things.
And so don't do that.
You are an expert inand of yourself, right?
(09:49):
So if you're a John Maxwellcoach, that's amazing.
What is the uniqueness thatyou bring to his methodology?
That's your expertise.
That is your, ultimately,your authority framework.
It's not John Maxwell's certificationprogram that makes you who you are.
What makes you who you are is howyou've taken his approach and how you've
(10:13):
actually helped customers with it.
And I guarantee that the way that youdo it is slightly different than the
way that he shows up or the way thatall of his other coaches show up.
Your job is to identify what that lookslike and then create the bigger framework.
So when you are going on this journey,if you've been certified in someone
(10:33):
else's approach, if that's whereyou've started or you've read lots of
books and you have lots of differentapproaches that you use to implement
with your clients, really think abouthow you've knitted those together.
Really think about the unique valuethat you provide when you show up.
Because I guarantee that what you aredoing, how you're thinking about it,
(10:54):
how you've gotten results, how youhelp your customers, how you show up
for your customers, whatever it is,is unique and special and is something
that sets you apart from someone else.
Your authority framework is justbeing able to articulate that and
then use it to help other people.
You know what I would've loved tohave seen in that presentation is for
(11:17):
her to own her expertise, own how sheshows up and say, and I got my start
by becoming a John Maxwell certifiedcoach, 'cause it gave me the tools and
resources to be able to start helpingmy customers, and then from there I
was able to evolve into my own way thatI showed up uniquely to help people.
(11:40):
That's a different expert statement.
That is a different way to show upas an expert and represent yourself.
And so again, if this is you, Ichallenge you to go through that.
If you are struggling with that andyou're like, I know what you're talking
about, but I'm not exactly sure how thatwould work for me, in the show notes
is a link to a free discovery call.
(12:00):
Jump on a call with me.
Let's talk through that a little bit.
Because my goal is to help you elevateyour expertise, not grab somebody
else's and use their expertise,which just increases their authority.
Let's increase yours as you startto grow and scale your business.
If you loved this episode, please feelfree to share it with someone else.
(12:22):
Give us a rating or subscribeif you are watching on YouTube.
Until next week, have a great week.
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