I will forever argue that one of the most valuable ways to measure your own life and success is to count the lives you have helped to succeed. When I think of professional brand, I come up with few attributes more positive or impactful than “helps others.” I believe that being able to help others, and doing so, is one of the most powerful acts we can do for each other as humans, both personally and professionally.
In my view, teaching is the ultimate career level-up. If you look around you, the technologists who are doing the best in their careers are probably the ones who share what they know with their colleagues, with their technical community, and with their peers. And honestly, being willing and able to help other people—to teach—is simply the right thing to do. You have likely been helped, and will be helped, by those around you; you owe it to them to “pay it forward” and help others.
Whether you’re teaching formal classes, holding a “lunch and learn” at work, or just leaning over a colleague’s shoulder and helping them with a problem, your effectiveness as a helper—as a teacher—is something you can continually improve. With that in mind, this chapter is intended to help you boost your skills as a teacher, and as someone who can act as a force multiplier for the technologists around you.