Experts. They seem to be everywhere. Turn on the television at any given time, and you’ll find “experts” explaining something: security, dancing, home design, weather patterns, and politics. But who really deserves to wear the label of “expert?” How does one reach this lofty status?

It’s long been believed that individuals are born predisposed to certain talents. Think Tiger Woods or Mozart, both geniuses in their respective purviews. But they weren’t born that way, argues Michael J. Prietula, a professor of information systems and operations management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Prietula, along with K. Anders Ericsson and Edward T. Cokely, published The Making of an Expert in a recent issue of the Harvard Business Review.

There are three tests for expertise, the authors say: 1) the expert must regularly outperform his or her peers. 2) There must be concrete results, and 3) that expertise must be replicable and measurable. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it,” British scientist Lord Kelvin once said.

Real experts are few and far between, the researchers contend, and they reach their level of perfection the old fashioned way—through hard work and continuous practice. Sort of. They make their accomplishments look easy. Thus, the belief that their skills come naturally.

“The journey to truly superior performance is neither for the faint of heart nor for the impatient,” the authors write. “The development of genuine expertise requires struggle, sacrifice, and honest, often painful self assessment. There are no shortcuts.”

And like most good things, it can’t be rushed. “It will take you at least a decade to achieve expertise, and you need to invest that time wisely,” Prietula and coauthors say, “Be engaging in ‘deliberate’ practice—practice that concentrates on tasks beyond your current level of competence and comfort.”

“There is an aphorism that I use: ‘Living in a cave doesn’t make you a geologist,’” notes Prietula. “By working hard, you do show a commitment to stick with it. But you have to do certain things. You have to practice in a specific way to get better. Research in many fields—golf, medicine, mathematics, and others—has shown that you have to accomplish certain things before you can master the next step. And secondly, if you are to master that next step, you have to approach those efforts in particular ways.”

Why? “It [requires more than] simple practice. It is a very particular type of practice that is oriented towards advancing, not maintaining, performance on the task. If not, you will only plateau. Doing more of the same can’t make you better,” he continues. “When you reach that proverbial plateau, you have to do things differently. You have to analyze and study the task.” Ironically, sometimes deliberate practices initially result in performance loss, which is why amateurs are reluctant to pursue them. However, they are the stepping stones to gaining substantial improvement.

Tiger Woods is a perfect example. In 2006, after the death of his father, he failed to make the cut at a major tournament, the U.S. Open, for the first time in his life as a professional golfer. Two months later he captured the British Open, reinventing his game and setting a few records in the process. It was “an intellectual masterpiece,” said ESPN’s Pat Forde. “The possessor of jaw-dropping physical talent won with his wits.”

The Role of the Coach

Woods’ father, Earl, had coached Tiger from childhood. He taught his son much more than how to swing a golf club. Woods’ capability to outperform others comes less from his athletic prowess and more from his discipline and capacity to make unassailable decisions.

Prietula and coauthors describe the importance of a good coach: “The development of expertise requires coaches who are capable of giving constructive, even painful, feedback. Real experts are extremely motivated students who seek out such feedback. They’re also skilled at understanding when and if a coach’s advice doesn’t work for them. The elite performers we studied knew what they were doing right and concentrated on what they were doing wrong,” the researchers write. “They deliberately picked unsentimental coaches who would challenge them and drive them to higher levels of performance. The best coaches also identify aspects of your performance that will need to be improved at your next level of skill. If a coach pushes you too fast, too hard, you will only be frustrated and may even be tempted to give up trying as well.”

The best coaches guide their students through the steps of deliberate practice, and ultimately, help them learn to coach themselves. With deliberate practice, the students not only improve upon current skills, but they also extend the reach and range of their skills.

Due to the high level of concentration that deliberate practice entails, the authors note that many experts limit their practice time to four or five hours a day. Violinist Nathan Milstein once asked his mentor how many hours he should practice. “If you practice with your fingers, no amount is enough,” was the reply. “If you practice with your head, two hours is plenty.”

The authors state: “…even the most gifted performers need a minimum or ten years (or 10,000 hours) of intense training before they will international competitions. In some fields the apprenticeship is longer. It now takes most elite musicians 15 to 25 years of steady practice, on the average, before they succeed at the international level.”

Once an individual becomes an expert, there is no such thing as resting on one’s laurels. “If you don’t continually work at it, your skills will decline,” Prietula says. “Once you get there, you want to maintain it. You have to stick with it.”

Expertise is fragile, he says. “If you are really good at something, it is unlikely that that skill is going to transfer very far. Look at Michael Jordan. Look at him play basketball, and look at him play baseball. They are both sports, both involve coordination and physical attributes. But Jordan is great at one, and terrible at the other. Such a belief, unfortunately, also pervades businesses and business schools.”

Executives On Stage

Prietula and colleagues are expanding this research theme to help business leaders translate their expertise by developing effective communication skills. Prietula and his colleague, Geoff Hitch, a well-known faculty member at Carnegie Mellon’s School of Drama, have developed a model where the key skills and deliberate practice of theatrical expertise are taught to managers and executives. “This course has been taught and refined for over 12 years,” Prietula notes. “We think it is about right.” They are working on a book of practical advice based on the years of experience in teaching this course to business school students and executives (and even a Nobel Laureate).

“In today’s world of instant communication and visual forms,” Prietula warns, “every executive, every leader, is on stage every day. And that stage is the world.”