The three roles of an expert (or teacher)

At Thought Leaders we say our job is to help you commercialise your expertise. Or said another way, we teach teachers.

As an expert/teacher you have three roles to play, each with increasing value in the market.

1.     Information. Traditionally an expert was the holder of information that was scarce, and was paid to share the information. Similarly, a teacher in a classroom imparted information – remember the old saying, passing knowledge from the teacher’s text book to the student’s notebook without passing through the brain of the either? These days information is essentially free, and the smart thing to do commercially is have your information freely available and easy to share.

2.     Experience. Your second role is to provide an experience. Like a rock band, if people love your music, they will want to come and see the show. Make your education experiential. Give your people a reason to come together and learn.

3.     Results. Your final role is to help people get results. To change their condition. To apply the knowledge in a way that makes a difference. This is the most valuable thing you can do, and the thing you can charge the most for.

You definitely need good information, good thinking, good intellectual property. That’s the foundation for everything, but on its own it won’t pay the bills. Providing great experiences will let you commercialise that IP. And if you can help people implement what they learn on the back of those experiences, you’ll change the world.