Why Keeping What You Know Won’t Make You Valuable

I’ve never quite known how to take it when someone says I’m good with people. It feels like a compliment meant for someone else, not me. Maybe it’s because I’m not consciously trying. I don’t give it much thought. But now, sitting near the window at a Starbucks in Jackson Heights, typing away on my iPad as I overlook the diversity of this neighborhood, I’ve got a little time to think about it. Time to reflect on the things we usually don’t.

Maybe that’s the thing—when something comes naturally, you don’t even see it. I’m just trying to help, share what I know, hoping it lands somewhere, hoping it makes a difference. Funny thing is, the way I think about value has changed over the years.

I used to work with someone who thought value was like currency—you kept it close, hoarded it like it was gold. “Hold onto what you know,” they’d say, “that’s how you stay valuable.” And for a while, I bought into that. I thought keeping knowledge to myself made me valuable. But in the end, what good is knowledge if it’s buried inside you? Who does that help?

Eventually, I came around. If I know something, now I share it. Freely. What’s the point of being the only one who knows? Real value isn’t about keeping things under lock and key. It’s about passing it on, letting it live beyond you. That’s when it matters—when it stays with someone else, long after you’re gone. When it lingers like a well-lived memory.

Cheers to sharing what you know because what seems like common knowledge to you might be a revelation to someone else.