You may be a very successful and experienced professional. You may even be the best at what you do. This means that you have some kind of insider knowledge or tricks of the trade. This also means that your considerable experience has given you a keen foresight. These are very valuable skills, but what exactly are you doing with them. Sure, you may be using them to earn more and to stay ahead of the curve at work, but is that all you can do with them. Now you might be thinking what else is there? Well, it’s a good thing that you asked because we can tell you exactly what. You can pass on your knowledge. You can spread the light of knowledge.

Here are the reasons why you should do that:

It Engrains What You Know

The more you share your knowledge the, more you learn and acquire new skills. This might seem confusing but it is the truth. When you teach or share something that you already know with someone else, that particular piece of knowledge becomes more emboldened in your memory. This means that when you share your knowledge you remember it better.

It can also be a very useful way of defining your ideas. Writing down ideas is a great way of doing this, but you can also share them and get the same result. When you share your knowledge, questions are bound to come up and when you answer them your ideas would be much more defined. These questions can also help to increase your knowledge and can give you a different perspective. They can also help you tackle a problem from a different angle. It will also help you to grow as an individual.

It Expands What You Know

Sharing your knowledge can also help you to learn more. When you explain a certain topic that you know to someone else, they may ask questions that you had never thought. This would spark an interest in you to find an answer to the question. This would cause your knowledge to grow furthermore.

Sharing can also open up new conversations which will prove insightful and informative.

It Fills the Gaps in Your Knowledge

Students have very different perspectives and you can learn a lot from these perspectives. They can even help you to evaluate your understanding of the subject. Many people will come to you to share their knowledge if you have a reputation of sharing it yourself. You also get trust as people will start trusting you with their knowledge. The more you give, the more you get back.

It Establishes Your Reputation as an Authority

Knowledge is power. It has been and it still is. The more of that power you share the more your reputation grows. Your knowledge when shared can give a position and reputation of authority. This will, in turn, help you to move into a position of leadership. People will naturally start to look up to you.

You have to be vocal about your potential contributions if you want to be seen as a leader. But you won’t be able to do this if you go around telling people that you are an expert, no one would take you seriously if you do this. But if you share a bit of your expert knowledge this will not only establish your expertise but will also help others by increasing their expertise.

Increases Your Professional Value & Skills

Sharing knowledge & skills can strengthen your professional relationships. When you share your knowledge, not only does it give you the position of an expert but it also makes the person with whom you are sharing your knowledge feel that you care about them. This will, in turn, strengthen your bond with them. This will also garner a degree of loyalty and hence they will back you up when you are in a tight spot.

As you have a considerable amount of work experience, you would have you own specific set of skill; these skills might even be unique to you. You can use this knowledge and skill to touch the lives of others. You have an opportunity to think of the collective good of your groups, you can think of others and not just about yourself.

When you help your entire team by sharing, you become more valuable to the group. This will make the organization feel that you are more valuable to them. They will start to see you as a resource rather than as a meager employee. This will translate into real rewards like promotions or raises in your pay.

Hence when sharing you can be sure that you will always come out on top. It is said that the legacy of teachers are their students. An enlightened student is the mark they leave on the earth. That teacher would be immortal in the student’s mind. So, what is your legacy?

Photo by Anna Sullivan on Unsplash