Influencing those we spend our most time around. It starts early.

I learned this skill from my high school technology director & computer programming teacher, Joe Hofmeister, at Cincinnati Country Day School, a school better known for its academic excellence and college preparation than technical training. Nonetheless, he brought his diesel Mercedes in and he & I changed his oil outside his office window and he drew on the board in illustrative detail why you don’t want to overfill the engine when you refill with new oil and the importance of responsible oil recycling. I can still see that detailed sketch. That weekend, I changed oil for the first time on my 92 Cavalier and learned that even a mechanically inept fool like myself can learn technical skills when given the opportunity and you have a willing & patient teacher. That small lesson gave me the confidence to tackle even greater technical skills as life has gone on and taught me that sharing your knowledge is a personal responsibility to foster life long learning in ourselves and others. I’m grateful for Mr. Hofmeister and think about both his classroom and extra curricular teachings all the time.

Further, these type of learning opportunities really extend to us as adults and in our workplaces as well, as sharing our non work technical skills picked up from hobbies, past teachers, and our passions can be super valuable for enriching our coworkers personal and professional lives and whoever they pass along our teachings to. The best workplaces encourage this type of sharing and create a culture where it’s OK and fun to do so. I have been fortunate to have learned a ton of technical skills from teammates over the years and hopefully, have taught them a thing or two also. It starts early for some of us, but shouldn’t end there. Have a great week! #servantleadership #learning #culture #training #people#sharetheknowledge #teachers #carguy4U