Dear Queenie,
I have a colleague with whom I work on several projects. Lately, she has been pushing for me to place more of my information, contacts, templates, and background material into shared folders so that everything is accessible to the team. On the surface, this sounds reasonable. The problem is that I have spent years building up this knowledge. I know where things are. I know the history behind decisions. I know the people involved. Part of what makes me valuable is that institutional knowledge. If I suddenly hand over everything, what is stopping management from deciding they no longer need me? Or from cutting me out of projects because someone else can simply access the files? I know this may sound territorial. But in today's workplace, visibility and relevance matter. I have worked too hard to become an expert just to make myself replaceable. At the same time, I realize that refusing to share information can make me look difficult or uncooperative. Queenie, am I protecting my position or protecting my ego? —Keeper of the Folder
Dear Keeper of the Folder,
I suspect you already know the answer. It is a little bit of both. Let us start with something many people are reluctant to admit: Knowledge is power. In every office, there are people whose influence comes not from their title but from what they know and where they know to find it. So your concern is not irrational. However, there is a distinction between being valuable because you possess knowledge and being valuable because you create value. One is much more secure than the other. If your position depends entirely on nobody else having access to information, then your position is more fragile than you think. Because eventually someone will ask: "Why does only one person know how to do this?" And that question rarely ends well. The most respected professionals are not the ones who hoard information. They are the ones who become known for judgment, expertise, relationships, and problem-solving. You can share a folder. You cannot share twenty years of experience. You can share templates. You cannot share your instincts. You can share documents. You cannot share the trust you have built. Now, that does not mean dumping everything into a shared drive with no structure or boundaries. Information should be organized appropriately and shared according to legitimate business needs. But be careful. Sometimes what we call "protecting our position" is actually fear that others will discover we are not as indispensable as we hoped. The irony is that people who mentor, document, and share knowledge often become more valuable, not less. Organizations eventually notice the difference between someone who guards information and someone who strengthens the institution. Ask yourself this: If tomorrow everyone had access to your files, what unique value would still walk out the door with you every evening? That answer is where your real security lies. —Queenie
