Would you ever look for tips about business from someone who doesn’t know anything about running a business? I hope not! If you want to lead people, you have to know your stuff.
Think about your interests. Is there something you love that you’ve always wanted to learn more about? Building knowledge can become a leadership opportunity because no matter how big or small, if you’ve got someone looking to you for inspiration, you’re a leader to them.
The best part? You can build knowledge about any topic, it doesn’t have to be career related! Whatever you love, learn more about it.
Here are a few benefits to building knowledge that you might notice if you get started.
Building knowledge will help you to make better choices. You will be able to look at two different options and pick the best one because you’ll know how to weight the pros and cons of each decision.
Building knowledge gives you credibility in your area. This is known as thought leadership. A thought leader is someone who is known for their knowledge in a specialized area.
Building Knowledge will help others trust you. Making good decisions based on understanding will lead people to deepen their trust in you and your ability to choose what’s best.
Building knowledge is a life-long process and you’ll always be aware of how much you don’t know. We will never learn enough. Recognizing how much there is to learn in the world can keep you going on the path of lifelong learning and could teach you a bit of humility along the way! It’s good to be reminded that we don’t know everything.
These benefits of building knowledge are special bonuses that of course come in addition to all the fun you’ll have learning about something you love!
Some of you might be thinking: “How do I build knowledge? I don’t have the money to go back to school or read more books!” The good news is, there are more than just 2 ways to build knowledge!
Try checking out a new podcast or audio book, read a short blog post or find a course you can take online – most are free or just have a small subscription fee. Try looking at Masterclass.com or Linked In Learning – they are amazing resources. You can even go to your local public library and find out what resources they have. Lots of libraries now have free online courses you can take.
Find a mentor in your area of interest and ask them if you can learn from them or try teaching others what you learn along the way. You don’t have to be the top expert in order to help others. Don’t wait until you’re perfect! The best way to learn is though experience and teaching others will help.
If you know of other great resources out there for people interested in building knowledge, share them with us in the comments below. I’d love to hear about them and I’m sure others would too!
Connect the Dots
Spend some time today reflecting on one or two areas that you’d like to learn more about. Subscribe to a new podcast or watch something to get you started! Pick a time each week that you can set aside for your knowledge building – even if it’s just 30 minutes. Setting aside a time each week will make it part of your routine and will help you stick with it.
Are you a Feel Like a Million blog reader but you’re not part of the Feel Like a Million Facebook community? There is lots of content over there that could take you to the next level! We always open up the week with the Million Dollar Monday show which focuses on a specific topic each week and then throughout the week we share our thoughts on different topics in that same theme.
By Friday you’ve done a deep dive into a helpful topic with the rest of the community and hopefully came out with more knowledge than you started! If you want to join our weekly discussions,you can join for free here.