The Expert Trap: Why Capable People Stay Quiet in International Business
Written by Shilpa Maher
23 October 2026
Written by Shilpa Maher
A while ago, I worked with a senior professional who had just stepped into a bigger role. On paper she was more than qualified. Yet she was quietly convinced she wasn’t the right person for the job, and that she’d got there through luck rather than skill.
Anyone who has landed in a new city after an early flight, ahead of a meeting with people they’ve never met, in a market they’ve only read about, will recognise that feeling. The preparation is done, but a quiet voice is running through everything you don’t know.
What if they ask about local regulations? What if someone else in the room knows far more than I do? Who am I to speak for a UK business here?
In my years in corporate life, and now in my coaching work, I’ve seen the same pattern in highly capable people: the belief that you shouldn’t speak up unless you’re the expert. International business amplifies it. Unfamiliar cultures, senior people, jet lag and high stakes all turn the volume up.
The cost of staying quiet
It rarely shows up as a dramatic failure. It’s the question you didn’t ask, the idea you kept to yourself, the introduction you didn’t make. It’s the negotiation where you deferred too quickly because someone else sounded more certain. Overseas, relationships are often built in a handful of meetings, so those small silences add up.
Certainty is not the same as value
We tend to confuse sounding sure with being useful. The person who adds the most in a room is rarely the one with every answer. It’s usually the one who is present, listening, and willing to say, “Here’s what I can see from where I’m sitting.”
You were asked into that room for a reason. Your business has a product, a track record and a perspective. You don’t need to know everything about the market to bring something real to the table.
Most of the noise is just thinking
The client I mentioned made a shift that surprised her. She noticed that “I’m not the right person for this” wasn’t a fact about her ability. It was a thought, and a very persuasive one. Once she could see it as a thought, and not as the truth, it lost much of its grip. She started to recognise what was already working, and her confidence in the role followed.
That’s the idea I come back to most with the leaders I work with. The doubt that appears before a big meeting feels like information, but it’s often just a passing thought shaped by tiredness, pressure and unfamiliar surroundings. Thoughts like this come and go like weather. They only become a problem when we treat them as instructions. Wrestle with them and they tend to get louder. Stop feeding them and what’s left is usually a calmer, clearer version of you, the one who did the preparation and earned the seat.
Practical things to try
Give yourself a minute before you walk in. Skip the last-minute cramming. Take a breath, let your head settle, and notice you’re more ready than the noise suggests.
Swap “What if I’m asked something I can’t answer?” for “What’s my honest contribution here?” You can say, “I don’t know that market well. I’d value your view on it.” It builds trust and is the opposite of weakness.
Get curious rather than defensive. Questions are among the most powerful tools in cross-cultural business. They show respect and reveal what you need to know.
Remember you’re one of several people in the room. Others bring local knowledge. You bring your business, your experience and your judgement.
Speak up once, early. The first contribution is the hardest. After that, it gets easier.
A different kind of preparation
We spend a lot of time preparing for international trade: the freight, the paperwork, the market research. All of it matters. But the person who turns up to the meeting matters just as much, and that’s the preparation we most often skip. Who we decide to ‘Be’ is so much more important than what we ‘Do’.
You don’t need to be the expert in the room. You need to be clear-headed enough to be yourself, curious enough to learn, and willing to contribute what you genuinely have. Leave the need to be right at passport control, and take the rest of you with you. In my experience, that’s when the best conversations happen, and often the best deals.
Shilpa is a Personal Transformation and Executive Coach who helps senior professionals move past self-doubt and lead with clarity, confidence and calm.
