T-SQL Tuesday #111 – It’s Not Me, It’s You

Rather, I should say, what I do, I do for you.

When I started college I was a Theatre major at Kent State University. As I went through my course work I saw how incredibly hard it was to even get started in that field, and because I’d been ‘good with computers’ when I was in high school (BASIC language via teletype machine – no personal computers existed in the early 1970s) I switched to Data Processing. I performed in community theatre productions, though, throughout my professional career, because I loved the spotlight.

In 2006 I earned a certification as a Microsoft Certified Trainer and started teaching courses in SQL Server. What became clear as I taught those courses, and as I presented sessions I’d created myself, was how much more rewarding it was to be sharing knowledge with others. I was still getting a kind of a spotlight, but it was more a reflective light, if you will, and it felt so much warmer.

The more I focused on building and delivering content to help people get more out of SQL Server, the better I felt about myself, and it seemed that people enjoyed spending time with me more. A side benefit was, of course, that I was learning more about SQL Server myself. You have to know more to teach a subject, I frequently tell my classes, than to just do a job every day.

When it comes down to it, after all, it really is about you. The more I succeed in teaching you, in preparing you for the demands of your job, the better I feel about having accomplished something of real value. I’m now using those skills I developed as a stage performer to make the content I’m sharing a little more interesting, so you’ll remember it longer.

Also, I always encourage everyone who attends my sessions to get up and share their own knowledge, and when I hear that someone I encouraged does present their first session, well, that’s the best spotlight of all.

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