“I will teach you to…”

I’ve seen this tag line in some people’s social media profiles and on their websites. The person claims they can impart the knowledge we need to achieve something. But they don’t say “teaching marketers to…” or “helping writers to…”

They say, “I will teach you to…”

I’ve seen this from people who talk about marketing, writing, financial advice, influence, public speaking, sales, entrepreneurship, and mental and physical health.

“I will teach you to…”

The phrase has always felt somewhat… icky. I could never figure out why, until I thought about my favorite teachers. They were always so unselfish, though I didn’t realize it at the time. They made the work and the lessons about us, almost out of habit. It’s like they couldn’t have operated any other way. Of course it was about the student. How else can one teach?

But that phrase? “I will teach you to…”?

That makes it all about them.

That implies that they are special, but great teachers make their students feel special.

That implies they possess some kind of secret (and they often do claim to share “secrets”). But there are no secrets, and nobody granted them hidden truths others can’t also grasp—with or without them.

That implies top-down wisdom, gracing them from on high, but great teachers stand shoulder to shoulder with students, leading them every step of the way from where they’re at to where the teacher hopes they’ll go.

”I will teach you to…”

It’s a way for the teacher to try and make scarce what is no longer scarce: knowledge. It’s a way for them to puff themselves up, to try and differentiate what ultimately isn’t differentiated.

As soon as someone says that phrase, you know where their focuses truly lies. It’s all about them.

Find the teachers willing to make it all about you. Because that’s how teaching actually works.