Leadership Pipeline Institute's Specialist Pipeline: Why Technical Experts Need Their Own Career Architecture
LPI extends its Leadership Pipeline model to specialist careers, giving organisations a framework to develop, assess, and progress technical experts through defined levels. "The Specialist Pipeline: Winning The War For Specialist Talent" book builds on the framework of the bestselling "The Leadership Pipeline" book, now in it's third edition.
The Leadership Pipeline, co-authored by Leadership Pipeline Institute (LPI) CEO Kent Jonasen, has shaped how organisations think about developing managers for over two decades. Its central argument, that each move up the ladder demands a real change in Work Values, Time Application, and Skills, not just more of the same, is a standard reference for succession planning and leadership development.
Now LPI has published The Specialist Pipeline, applying that same logic to a career path many organisations have never properly architected: the specialist.
The book argues that a specialist is defined by the value they're accountable for creating. It maps four levels: Professional, Knowledge Expert, Knowledge Leader, and Knowledge Principal, and the deliberate shifts required to move between them.
The book challenges assumptions that technical progression is simply "getting better at the same job," and offers leaders a shared language for developing, assessing, and promoting expertise with the same rigour long applied to leadership careers.
The Specialist Pipeline is available on Amazon and other booksellers or contact Leadership Pipeline Institute for more information.
Leadership Pipeline Institute (LPI) is the official research institute and leading global provider of solutions based on the pipeline books, including The Leadership Pipeline and its companion, The Specialist Pipeline. LPI support organisations building their leadership and specialist pipelines, alongside succession planning, talent planning, and leadership development.
LPI is represented in more than 25 countries, with consultants based in over 30 cities, delivery capability in 20 languages, and programme reach into people from more than 75 countries. LPI is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The leadership pipeline Institute is taking Part in Learning Live 2026, a gathering of 800 learning and development leaders in London this week.