How to Give Your Knowledge Legs
Move from one-to-one to one-to-many and watch your impact multiply
One of the most effective ways to increase your impact at work is by teaching others.
I can already hear the two most common objections forming in your mind: “I’m not good at teaching” and “I’m not an expert.” If you keep watering those thoughts, the weeds of doubt will eventually make you invisible. But here is the secret: You don’t have to be an expert to start sharing.
If the word “teaching” feels too heavy, replace it with “sharing.” Sharing is lighter. It’s honest. You are simply offering what you know to those who want to learn it.
The Myth of the Expert
We often fall into the trap of thinking that if something is easy for us, it must be easy for everyone else. This is rarely true. If you are even one step ahead of someone else, you can help them.
Throughout my career, I’ve taught everything from Advanced SQL and database design to public speaking, storytelling, and social intelligence. None of these started as polished programs. Most began as small experiments. My work in SQL performance tuning started with a single slow query and a teammate who asked, “Why?”
Over time, those small conversations evolved into:
Advanced SQL and database design workshops.
Public speaking and storytelling coaching.
Productivity mastering sessions for entire teams.
This is how organic growth happens—it starts with a single seed of helpfulness.
Scaling Your Knowledge
Once you find a topic that resonates, the goal is to move from a “one-to-one” model to a “one-to-many” model. This is where your influence truly compounds. Scaling means letting your work travel further than you can.
Writing: Long-form instructional documents force clarity and create a permanent, searchable artifact.
Group Classes: Teaching in person or via video builds community and answers many at once.
Recordings: Allows for asynchronous playback; you teach while you sleep.
Office Hours: Dedicated Q&A sessions efficiently handle repetitive questions.
Train the Trainer: Teaching others to use your materials is the ultimate form of compounding.
Not Sure Where to Start? Look Here:
If you’re staring at a blank page, look into these three categories to find your first “share”:
1. People
Help new hires onboard. Do you remember what was confusing during your first week? You know which documents were missing and which conversations mattered most. Reducing a teammate’s ramp-up time from months to weeks is a massive, measurable win.
2. Process
If you’ve survived a complex legal, finance, or security approval, you have gold. These processes are often poorly documented and inconsistently applied. A simple “how-to” checklist or walkthrough can save others weeks of frustration.
3. Technology
Technology changes constantly. Did you just learn a new platform or evaluate multiple tools before choosing one? Your honest comparison and observations are more valuable to your peers than a marketing brochure.
The 5-Minute “Micro-Share” Challenge
If scaling feels like too big a leap, start small this week. You don’t need a presentation deck to be impactful today. Try one of these:
The Wiki Update: Find one confusing paragraph in your team’s documentation and rewrite it for clarity.
The Public Answer: When someone DMs you a question you can answer, ask to move the conversation to a public Slack or Teams channel so others can learn too.
The “Found This” Note: Share one shortcut or tool you used today that saved you ten minutes.
Protecting Your Mental Space
Some people struggle to identify topics because they discount their own experience and assume everyone else already knows what they know.
In these situations, working with a coach can help. A coach acts like a bouncer at a party in your mind—they challenge unhelpful thoughts and keep them from taking over the room. Don’t let the “weeds of doubt” stifle your growth. Start sharing today, and watch your impact multiply.
This Week’s Micro-Challenge: The “I Wish I Knew” Audit
Spend exactly five minutes today looking through your sent emails or Slack messages from the last month. Find one instance where you explained a concept, a tool, or a process to a colleague.
Your task: Copy that explanation, polish it slightly, and post it in a public team channel or internal knowledge base. Don’t wait for it to be perfect—just put it where more than one person can find it.