Here's one of the fastest ways to accelerate your career and stand out from the crowd: start teaching. If that sounds intimidating, don't worry—you don't need a PhD or years of experience to begin. You just need to be willing to share what you already know. This chapter will show you how to build credibility, demonstrate leadership, and position yourself as a go-to expert by teaching others, whether that's within your team or to a broader audience.
Let's start with a truth that might surprise you: there's always something you can teach, no matter your background or experience level. Maybe you've never managed a formal project, but you've planned a wedding, organized a community event, or coordinated a family vacation. Those experiences taught you about timelines, stakeholder management, budget constraints, and contingency planning—all core project management skills.
Even if your background seems completely unrelated to project management, it likely contains transferable lessons that others can benefit from. Are you a veterinarian? You can teach people about systematic problem-solving, working under pressure, or communicating complex information to anxious clients. Are you in retail? You understand customer service, inventory management, and handling multiple priorities simultaneously.
The key is to find the universal principles in your specific experience and present them in a way that the average person can relate to and apply. When you do this effectively, people start to see you as someone who "knows how to get things done"—which is exactly the reputation you want as an aspiring project manager.
Teaching does something magical for your career development. First, it positions you as an expert, even if you're still learning. When you consistently share knowledge and help others solve problems, people begin to see you as a leader and a resource. This perception is incredibly valuable when opportunities arise, because managers and recruiters look for people who can guide and develop others.
But here's the part that makes teaching especially powerful: it forces you to truly understand what you know. There's an old saying that if you can't explain something simply, you don't understand it well enough. When you teach, you quickly discover the gaps in your knowledge, which gives you a clear roadmap for what to learn next.
Teaching also demonstrates leadership in action. Instead of waiting for someone to give you a leadership role, you create opportunities to lead by helping others. This is particularly important for project management, where your success depends on your ability to guide teams, facilitate learning, and help people solve problems—even when you don't have formal authority over them.
The beauty of teaching is that it doesn't require a classroom or a curriculum. You can start small and build from there. Here are some practical ways to begin:
Help Your Colleagues: The simplest form of teaching happens in everyday work interactions. When a colleague is struggling with a problem you've solved before, don't just give them the answer—walk them through your thinking process. Show them how you approached the problem, what resources you used, and how you verified your solution. This turns a quick favor into a teaching moment that helps them develop their own problem-solving skills.
Share Your Mistakes: Some of the most valuable teaching comes from sharing what didn't work. When you encounter a setback or learn something the hard way, document it and share those lessons with others. This kind of vulnerability-based teaching is incredibly powerful because it helps others avoid similar pitfalls while positioning you as someone who learns and grows from challenges.
Facilitate Learning in Your Team: Look for opportunities to help your team learn together. Maybe you can suggest a brief knowledge-sharing session where everyone presents something they've learned recently. Or you could volunteer to research a new tool or methodology and present your findings to the group. These initiatives show leadership and help establish you as someone who drives continuous improvement.
One of the most effective ways to teach at scale is by creating content online. This doesn't mean you need to become a full-time content creator, but regularly sharing insights and lessons can significantly boost your professional visibility and credibility.
LinkedIn Posts: Start by sharing short, practical posts about lessons you've learned or problems you've solved. The format could be as simple as "Here's a mistake I made this week and what I learned from it" or "Three things I wish I'd known when I started doing [specific task]." Focus on providing genuine value rather than trying to impress people with complex theories.
For example, if you recently helped coordinate a team event, you might write: "Planning our team retreat taught me three things about stakeholder management: 1) Get requirements in writing, even for 'simple' requests, 2) Build buffer time into every deadline, 3) Communicate changes immediately, no matter how small. These lessons apply to any project where you're coordinating multiple people and moving parts."
Document Your Learning: When you're learning something new—whether it's a project management methodology, a software tool, or a process improvement technique—document your learning journey. Share what resources you found most helpful, what concepts clicked for you, and what you're still working to understand. This type of content is incredibly relatable and positions you as someone who's actively growing their skills.
Answer Questions: Pay attention to questions people ask in your industry forums, LinkedIn groups, or even casual conversations. If you have experience with something someone is asking about, offer a helpful response. Over time, this establishes you as a knowledgeable and helpful professional in your network.