[ Contributor / Guru ]

On the “Business of Authority” podcast recently, there was an insightful conversation differentiating between being a “contributor” or a “guru”. 

The encouragement was to shift your mindset from “I must be a guru expert” to “I want to contribute to the conversation”.  

I think this is a healthy and useful shift in thinking. 

It might be a little incongruous perhaps. But approaching knowledge work from a helping viewpoint is very valuable.  Showing up as the “I-know-it-all-and-I’m-the-best-just-ask-me” expert can be off-putting.  Demonstrate your expertise by doing good work, not just talking about it.  This is especially true in a collaborative environment.