Nonaka & Takeuchi developed the SECI model by introducing the Japanese concept of 'Ba', which roughly translates as 'place'. Ba can be thought of as a shared context or shared space in which knowledge is shared, created, and utilized.

Through this article I intend to help my readers understand how vital KM is as an enabler in helping you realizing and tap into honing your competences to magnify your personal brand.

Conference badges - how many of them do you have? If you’re a leader in sales, a marketer or even a business consultant, I am sure you have traveled often and have a collection over the years!

Many times we attend conferences to network and learn about new markets, industry upcoming advancements in technology and many more such events for keeping ourselves updated. Over the years we display our badges from these events as a sign of knowledge we have gained to our surrounding teams.

The larger question I reflect on in this article is how Knowledge Management can help us re-invent ourselves through ensuring we part-take in being a co-speaker rather than just another participant at a Masterclass in a conference.

Let's introduce you to the four quadrants of the SECI model to learn more.

• Socialization (Tacit to Tacit) – Socialization is about capturing knowledge by physical proximity; wherein direct interaction is a supported method to acquire knowledge. The tacit knowledge is transferred by common activity such as being together in the same environment.
• Externalization (Tacit to Explicit) – Externalization is the process of making tacit knowledge explicit, wherein knowledge is crystallized and is thus able to be shared by others, becoming the basis of new knowledge. This includes publishing or articulating knowledge. Concepts, images, and written documents, for example, can support this kind of interaction.
• Combination (Explicit to Explicit) – Combination involves organizing and integrating knowledge, whereby different types of explicit knowledge are merged. Here explicit knowledge is collected from inside or outside the organization and then combined, edited, or processed to form new knowledge.
• Internalization (Explicit to Tacit) – Internalization involves the receiving and application of knowledge by an individual, enclosed by learning-by-doing. On the other hand, explicit knowledge becomes part of an individual's knowledge and will be assets for an organization. Internalization is also a process of continuous individual and collective reflection, as well as the ability to see connections and recognize patterns, and the capacity to make sense between fields, ideas, and concepts.

I am sure you can now relate each of the four quadrants of the SECI model on how our tacit knowledge can help us better re-invent our personal brand in-time.

The obvious next question however is how does one role-model and hone such a change and how does one identify the right opportunities in-time.

While there are many models I would like you to read more in detail the Four stages of competence as I relate it to the Quadrant graphic above.

• Quadrant-I > Quadrant-II : As you participate in the Masterclass as an audience the first-time you know very little about the topics as most of the content is new to you. So, in such instances its ok to just keep an open mind and have a few grey areas to which you relate in which your skilled over the years. This is the base for moving from a stage of 'Unconscious Incompetence' to 'Conscious Incompetence'.
• Quadrant-II >> Quadrant-III : As you move away and reflect on the key takeaways you are slowly realizing what areas of the conference for which you need to develop your own subject-knowledge and possibly invest in reading more. You start moving from a stage of 'Conscious Incompetence' to 'Conscious Competence'.
• Quadrant-III > Quadrant-IV : You are beginning to discover yourself and with time by volunteering for expert field work, participating in key research projects & giving talks to smaller communities of practice. You begin to develop mastery of presenting on similar topics and relating content with right examples and resources.

To become a professional speaker requires the right opportunity and one can start with taking professional course as a Certified Learning Champion at work and engaging audiences based on professional opportunities-at-hand.

Disclaimer : This article is based on my own experiences and are my personal views. 

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About the Author : Michael Sequeira is an independent consultant who is passionate about helping organizations discover how KM can be a key differentiator for their business, teams, and clients. If you would like to learn more about his background and get-in-touch you can connect with him on LinkedIn.