We all know how important it is to listen to “the experts,” the people who have done the research or gained the experience we need to learn from as we do our work. They can help us avoid stepping on landmines or unnecessarily “reinventing the wheel” as we figure out how to do what we want to do.

But there’s an interesting trap on the expert side of things. Once you’ve done the leg work to become an expert, whether you’re a consultant or a former industry professional moving into the CTE classroom, that expert crown feels pretty good – people listen when you speak and defer to your experience and judgment. It’s quite an ego boost.

That’s where the trap is.

You start to think of yourself as an expert, as the voice of knowledge and wisdom. The problem: Since you’re already an expert, you stop learning. The consultant stops reading research and tracking industry developments. The formerly-from-industry CTE teacher stops tracking new knowledge and practices in the field.

That’s a problem.

You were only an expert up to the point that you understood the current state of things, and the world keeps moving. You stagnated, and what was once current knowledge is now less and less relevant as the field continues to change. The knowledge, practices, and equipment used 10 years ago when you left the field is no longer the state of the industry, and you’re teaching kids how to succeed in a world that, increasingly, no longer exists.

But because your ego says you’re the expert, you cling to the world you knew, and pride or pretense prevents you from continuing to be a lifelong learner. You become an archive, not a guide to today’s world.

I’m certainly guilty of this: as an “expert” in employer engagement, I wasn’t doing my leg work to stay current as COVID introduced an urgency to designing virtual work-based learning models. I was so busy being an expert that I wasn’t doing the things I needed to do to continue being an expert. (I’m fixing that now, of course.)

In the CTE world, they’ve already come up with a solution to this trap: The advisory board. For the teacher who wants to stay current in the field, your advisory board can be a lifesaver: Populate it with current industry professionals and make sure to ask them about current practices and equipment, as well as hiring needs and requirements, and ask if they’ll help you every year or two with program reviews to look at your program (facilities, equipment, curriculum) and offer suggestions for updates.

For all you experts out there, I hope you’ll join me in committing to becoming lifelong learners. It’s the only way to ensure that you’re able to offer the kind of value you want to provide.

Brett Pawlowski is Executive Vice President of the National Center for College and Career (NC3T) (www.nc3t.com). NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance, and tools. These strategies help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education.