"One of my current teams has a subject matter expert with knowledge that far exceeds the others in similar roles. He has been with the company for years and has put in a lot of hard work to get to where he is. My customers love him, and I know I can count on him to deliver high quality work on time every time.
He initially withheld helpful information and refused to assist others with their assignments. I can only speculate as to his motivation, but I observed that his behavior caused a number of unnecessary project delays. I was personally left in the dark a number of times in which his knowledge would have allowed us to offer better customer service.
I asked him to lunch one day and discussed the situation. I let him know I consider him an expert, and the team would benefit greatly from him sharing knowledge more freely. I helped him see that bringing the others along in their knowledge would free up time for him to progress in his own career.
We worked together to identify a series of training opportunities he could facilitate. He really turned things around and became the go-to guy for technical advice on the team. I spoke to his manager recently about what an asset he has become, and it looks like he will be getting a promotion soon. I am honored to work with him, and I appreciate what I have learned from him since we worked things out."
