If you truly want to reach your fullest potential, you have to be willing to share your knowledge. However, it’s also true that not everyone is hardwired for this. Some find it easier to share with friends and family but struggle when faced with teaching strangers. Indeed, standing in front of a group of students as a teacher or a coach could be unbearably difficult for some.
Before being able to share knowledge—to teach, in other words—one should understand the two primary challenges: figuring out your expertise and then finding the most appropriate channel for teaching. Once you overcome these barriers, then sharing your knowledge becomes a little easier and more natural.
How Do You Discover What You’re Good At?
There are many ways to find your strengths and expertise. One of the easiest ways is to ask those who are close to you. Your family and close friends are the perfect candidates, because they’ve known you longer and have a deeper understanding of your strengths. Be honest with them and ask them to be honest with you. You want to discover their unbiased opinions on your potential as a teacher.
Another way to find out what you’re an expert in is simply to be honest with yourself. Perform a self-assessment and think about the things you’re passionate about. Think about all the times when you’ve lost track of time because you were doing what you love. Holistic career coaching can also help you to uncover your fullest potential and fulfil your purpose. Even better, holistic career coaching can help enhance your self-esteem and make your work more meaningful.
How Do You Share What You Know?
Once you’ve figured out your expertise, you can then work on the mechanics of how to share your knowledge. Thankfully, technology is on your side. The internet has put the world on your fingertips, giving you a platform to reach many others. You can set up your own website to help establish your profile which is an important step towards building and sharing a purposeful career through teaching.
Social media also presents a perfect opportunity to reach people and share your expertise. Create a page where you can share daily inspiration and knowledge (ideally, one that is separate from your personal account). Videos are perfect as a teaching medium as well, as it creates a more personal and direct connection. Remember to tailor-fit the length and style of your videos to the platform. For example, it’s more common for users of video-sharing platforms like YouTube to watch content that lasts for 10 or more minutes.
Of course, there’s still a place for traditional face-to-face teaching. With personal interaction in the equation, both you and your students can have a deeper, richer understanding of the subject. Indeed, face-to-face teaching can help convey complexities in a way that digital platforms can’t. Finally, this method of teaching helps you provide personalised support to your students. This, in turn, can help cultivate better connections.
Why Is It Important to Share What You Know?
Why should you share what you know? Why is it important? Here are just a few ways that sharing knowledge can impart value both to yourself and those you teach:
Personal Growth
Sharing your knowledge doesn’t diminish it. Rather, it helps expand what you know. Indeed, teaching opens you up to a myriad of opportunities for personal growth. As you share your knowledge, you prime your mind into absorbing more and thus you become open to learning new skills. Finally, teaching makes you appreciate every small piece knowledge you receive. Indeed, you can learn something from everybody. By sharing your knowledge, you encourage others to do the same. These results create even bigger opportunities for growth.
Encourage Collaboration
Knowledge sharing encourages collaboration. With a genuine desire to help others develop, you create an environment that’s conducive for collaboration. What’s critical here is that you share knowledge, and not merely information. In turn, collaboration can encourage people to improve their relationship with others.
Generate Ideas
When two people with different skill sets meet, they can create new ideas and innovative solutions. If two heads are better than one, then just imagine what more minds can do if they work together! This is only possible if you are open to sharing your knowledge with anyone who is willing to learn.
Train New Leaders
Do you want to help shape the leaders of tomorrow? Teach! Indeed, knowledge sharing is one of the best ways to cultivate minds. Once you’ve discovered and developed your expertise, you’re in the perfect position to offer valuable training. Through continuous sharing and learning, you provide a solid foundation for new leaders. You also do yourself a big service by keeping your mind sharp and your knowledge up to date.
As the saying goes, no man is an island. Indeed, everybody needs somebody to help them learn. You might just be that one person that can teach another about their own limitless potential. Start by discovering your skills and then strive toward sharing your knowledge in your own unique way.
What do you think?
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