Remember To Always Teach
Teaching is the blood of our culture, without it we cease to learn from those who may be smarter, but almost certainly have a different way of looking at a topic. Too often people, particularly those who deem themselves “gurus” or “experts”, forget that what people need the most is a teacher to show them the ropes. People do NOT need to be ridiculed publicly for sending out a bad PR pitch or not understanding how to Tweet properly. This is all new territory, there are no rules, people are depending on you for guidance. People need you to teach them what you have already learned.
It has become easy in our hyper-connected world to dismiss the notion of teaching people new skills and instead rip people down when they do something that is perceived to be wrong. Perhaps it is part of human nature and we are just seeing it come to the surface more because of new communication tools like Twitter or perhaps it is just laziness. But I like to think that the teachers are out there doing it silently, or at least not beating their chests incessantly. The teachers are willing to simply provide people with good nuggets of information, no kudos needed.
During Labor Day weekend we were visiting with family in St. Louis and it was wonderful how many people asked me, “What the hell is (insert social network here), I just don’t get it?”. Each time it was an opening for me to explain what I thought it was, how it works and potentially how this person would use the platform. It was invigorating to hear people around the dinner table then share ideas on how to use Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. At one point I even took out my laptop and showed some of my slides I put together for the Ubiquity Marketing unSummit. The saying is cliche, but if I did teach one person one thing that weekend it was worth the time.
Are you a teacher?
September 9th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Could not agree more. Although it’s interesting, I hadn’t thought about the “not ridiculing people” for not knowing the etiquette as an opportunity to teach. Thanks for the brief but thought-provoking post!
September 9th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Thanks Aaron. It really struck me this past weekend as I spent most of my time with folks who had heard so much about all of this stuff, yet nobody on CNN or The Today Show are actually teaching them how to use it personally or professionally. It was a nice reminder.
/kff
September 9th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Good reminder. I’ve had many of those dinner party conversations – early on it often led to ridicule, now folks are a little more interested. According to a relationship guru I can’t remember at the moment, we should be praising people 80% of the time and suggesting alternatives 20% of the time.
Nice post. Really well done. I like it. Use a different font next time.
Jim | @jimstorer
September 9th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Love it, Kyle. There are no rules and there is no standardization valid for what is happening with social technology. We learn from each other, sure. However, to each, his/her own, as all that is “social” is merely an extension of one’s personal voice and style. Teach on!
September 9th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
You hit the nail on the head Mr. Hayden. Social is just another medium and I believe the people I find to be the best teachers in one genre would most likely be able to do it in any genre. It is part of their DNA.
Jim, thank you sir, I’m thinking next time I’ll go with Calabari Bold.
September 9th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Hoovers, Janet Fouts, Jim Storer, Tim Hayden and others. Hoovers said: Reading: Teaching B2B Marketing and Social Media by @KyleFlaherty — http://ow.ly/oJbv [...]