Knowledge is Power—But Only If You Apply It

Posted by Chuck Kocher
On January 12, 2018

Sir Francis Bacon is generally credited with coining the phrase, “Knowledge is power” (Oh, if he’d only been on Twitter, imagine the impact he might have had!). Some 491 years later that comment still rings true. When it comes to the topic of learning I’m a committed evangelist with my clients. I read constantly to stay abreast of new ideas and information—and I urge my clients to do the same. That’s because I think Sir Francis Bacon was right: Knowledge is power—but only if you apply it.

Knowing and Doing

There’s a big difference between knowing about something and actually doing something with the knowledge you have. I often recommend specific books to clients and acquaintances. As a matter of fact, I have a whole page on my website devoted to books that have transformed my thinking about business. Click here to check out what I consider to be some of the most insightful and helpful titles for transforming your business. I’m constantly adding new titles to this list that can challenge, educate, inform, and transform the way we do business.

There is, however, more involved in transforming and growing your company than merely gathering good information. You still have to do something with the information you glean from the pages of a book. In my almost 40 years of involvement with high-growth businesses, I’ve discovered that this is often where a lot of leaders get sidetracked.

As an executive coach, I frequently meet with business leaders who tell me that they actually know what to do in order to grow their businesses, but they don’t know how to do it. They understand the principles involved, but they haven’t had success transferring those principles into practice.

Knowing When to Get Help

That’s why business leaders engage me to help with things such as strategic planning or setting corporate vision and goals. Some leaders need help with their leadership abilities. Others need guidance and instruction in building a great team they can rely on to drive their business forward. Others simply aren’t prepared for the challenges that come with building a high-growth company. That’s when I encourage them to take a free and short business assessment of their current business situation. It helps them to understand what’s involved in scaling up their company and achieving the kind of growth they want.

Knowledge is essential if you want to transform your company into a dynamic, growing business. But that knowledge has to be applied correctly and consistently in order to get the desired results. Knowledge is power—but only if you apply it. Contact me if you’d like to talk about what you need to know to drive your business forward—and how to make that happen.