We can add value to others by sharing what we know.
Sometimes, though, we may want to hoard our special insights, ideas, and knowledge. We may feel that somehow our knowledge will be diminished if we give it away.
But knowledge can’t be used up.
I can tell you everything I know about a certain topic. When I’m done, we’ll both know it.
When we share what we know, we create new possibilities:
- For ourselves. When you share what you know, your confidence in your knowledge grows. The process of teaching information or sharing it with someone else reinforces your learning and expands it.
- For others. The knowledge you share with others is a gift they can use, develop, and share.
- For countless people we may never meet. When you choose to develop others by sharing what you know, you can encourage them to do the same. Through the passing of knowledge, you may inspire and influence many others.
In order to share what you know, you need to first create an inventory of your knowledge base and skills so that you know what you have to offer to others. Once you know what you know, you can start to give that knowledge away to others, helping them to learn and develop.
Take a moment to think about it. What are the five things you know the most about? The things we know best are the easiest ones to pass on to others. Teaching them to others feels natural and requires little advance preparation.
You can share what you know in a formal way, as a teacher, trainer, mentor, or coach; or you can share what you know informally, along the way, as you go, as a matter of course.
Tell me something! What are some of the things you know best? How do you share them with others?
I am at a conference in Chicago this week, learning from a lot of smart people and enjoying connections, old and new.
I planned to repost from the LeaderTalk archives yesterday but a full day and a few technical glitches prevented me from posting.
So, here I am, a day off schedule with a mostly new post. It contains a few sentences, used with permission, from a post I wrote for Mountain State University LeaderTalk. You can read the original post here.
I am the founder/CEO of the Weaving Influence team, the author of Reach: Creating the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause, and the host of the Book Marketing Action Podcast. I’m a wife and mom of three kids, and I enjoy running, reading, writing, coffee, and dark chocolate.
Wow Becky,
We are on similar thought lines. The focus of my blog postings this year has been on sharing my 30 years of experience in business and life. I believe that by sharing I will attract other like minded people to collaborate with. In that sense it is a very selfish process. At the end of the day, what you give back comes back to you ten fold. Yet another reason to share your knowledge.
Cheers,
David
I’ve been on active duty as a mom for 27 years. If nothing else, I can share my perspective with other moms. One thing I’ve learned? Motherhood: Perfection Not Required. I just wish I’d learned that truth a bit sooner.
I’m also a strange breed in the writing world: a writer & and an editor with experience in both nonfiction and fiction. I love to come alongside other writers and encourage them. Why? Because so many others have helped me along the writing road. One nugget of truth: Writing is rewriting. And rewriting. And rewriting.
Dear Becky
Leadership is one of the most demanding activities, I dare to say, especially in Mexico. Mexicans don’t like to be guided, lead or told what to do. But it’s also true, we lack real, well-intended leadership among the ones on top. So it’s a one of a kind combination that keeps organizations struggling with inner conflicts rather than facing what’s out there to be solved and taken care of.
I suppose our tendency to be self-contained in terms of exchange with the exterior is what keeps us from reaching our true development.
I read this post the first time you posted it–and read it this time. Still gleaned so much truth and encouragement from it. You motivate me, Becky.
One more thing I know: A wise woman knows her limitations. (Quote not original with me.) It’s okay not to know everything–or to be able to do everything.
My level of contentment rises in proportion to how well I grasp this truth.