A few years ago, I was in a meeting at a client’s, and the discussion turned to teamwork. I jokingly said “teamwork is for people who cannot be trusted with complex tasks on their own”, at which point the whole room exploded in laughter (well, everyone laughed except the agile coach).

And even though my joke has since become a pinned tweet, it is in all fairness only true in a limited context. In most of our day-to-day work, we need the help of others, and they rely on ours.

As you no doubt will have noticed, the SQL Server community is a vibrant, friendly and helpful collection of people from all corners of the world, helping each other grow as professionals and as individuals.

From my own work with the PASS community, as a former usergroup leader, a SQL Saturday organizer and speaker, I’ve been given the opportunity to meet some amazing people from all over the world. The session submissions for SQL Saturday Stockholm 2020 so far include speakers all the way from Vancouver, Canada to Auckland, New Zealand. I am not only gaining access to a network of experts from around the world, but my community work and the professional visibility it creates also allows me to grow my business, and it makes me more “hirable” in clients’ or employers’ eyes.

Which brings me to the rub of this post: I want you to decide on a new commitment for 2020 that will grow your confidence, further your career, improve the quality of your work, and make some friends in the process.

I want you to step up your community game.

There are so many ways you can do this – start small and follow a few blogs, or start writing one yourself. Ask or answer questions on Q&A sites like dba.StackExchange, or help people out on the #sqlhelp hashtag on Twitter. Even better, use your free PASS membership to attend a local usergroup or conference, online or physically, or maybe even try your hand at speaking at one! Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I know that I speak for all usergroup and conference organizers when I say that we are here for you, and we want to help you succeed.

In the end, helping others is the best way to develop your own skills and career. And there’s always more to learn.

Happy new year!

PS, if this is all a little too much right now, please enjoy my latest distraction.