Don’t keep what you know to yourself, share it

By: Sandra Idossou

An employee consults a colleague on a work-related issue. Sharing knowledge empowers people and improves communities. (File)

Fifteen years ago, I and other four people were selected to attend a trainers’ course in France for the Accor hotels in Africa. This was to be the turning point of my career and my entire life as a person. Being a trainer has not been the most financially-rewarding job, but sharing knowledge in over 25 countries has been a blessing and an excellent way of impacting people’s lives.

Obviously, we do not all have to be trainers in order to share knowledge because, sadly, we live in a world surrounded by ignorance. Even the Bible says “My people perish due to lack of knowledge”.
Of all the challenges we face, ignorance is the most significant one affecting our productivity as individuals and communities. Ignorance is, in most cases, the cause of poverty.
My simple definition of knowledge is “the know-how and know-why”. Knowledge is what we all need to improve our lives because through it, we educate ourselves and learn things we wouldn’t have known. Knowledge gives every single person, no matter where we come from, the ability to make better decisions through evolved and intelligent thoughts.
Knowledge makes us more valuable people because it improves us and those around us. It transforms the way we perceive, understand and comprehend things around us. One good aspect of knowledge is that nobody can ever take it away from you. You can loose in a twinkle of an eye a car, house or any other valuable possession, but knowledge will forever be yours.

Sandra Idossou

Knowledge is power and the only antidote against ignorance. For instance, I recently discovered the many health benefits of this wonder spice we live with; ginger. I read that this simple ingredient (in fact very cheap in our markets) can be used to prevent and cure many ailments.
I understood that good health is actually not expensive, but it is the ignorance of it that makes it expensive.
Each single day, we have the possibility to learn new things if we are open to information and situations surrounding us.
“There is no wealth like knowledge and no poverty like ignorance,” said Buddha. But it is also said that knowledge is of no use if not shared.
Knowledge sharing is described as an activity through which knowledge (that is information, skills, or expertise) is exchanged among people, friends, families, communities or organisations.
Louis L’Amour once said that knowledge is like money. To be of value, it must circulate and, in circulating, it can increase in quantity and, hopefully, in value. In other words, there is no better investment in people than equip them with knowledge.
When we (ServiceMag) started in Rwanda almost five years ago to offer knowledge and information through a free educative business magazine, our aim was, and still is, to help service providers understand the benefits of improved service delivery. Don’t you think it is only by ignorance that a businessperson, who has invested a lot of money, time and energy in a venture will ‘allow’ it to crumble because of poor service?
You too, in your small way can share knowledge with people around you. We all have different options and responsibilities in this common objective. Do not keep what you know to yourself; share it with others.
Help the people around you become better through knowledge sharing. Remember, there is no investment as powerful and rich as investing in people, in their knowledge.That is how we can positively contribute to the growth of our people, country and continent.
The author is a customer service consultant and the Publisher of the ServiceMag