“I never yelled at my players much. That would have been artificial stimulation, which doesn’t last very long. I think it’s like love and passion. Passion won’t last as long as love. When you are dependent on passion, you need more and more of it to make it work. It’s the same with yelling.”
John Wooden
Your recruits and officers are no different from John Wooden’s players. If you are yelling at them all the time it will have fleeting benefits. It may get their attention at first but, they will start to tune you out just like the referee in the Budweiser commercial from a few years ago.
There may be times in training where you need to yell at them to get their attention, get them to take their head out of their butt and take the training serious. In those cases it can have the desired effect because it is out of the norm.
There may also be times in contextual based training or reality based training where the role player needs to yell at the officer. The key here is that it is in context and the officer has the opportunity to response using the strategic communication skills you hopefully taught them.
Yelling as some type of “stress inoculation” training has limited value. The only thing it may inoculate them to is an instructor yelling at them. Outside of that it will do little or nothing to develop professional officers who have the ability to remain calm, focused, in control and confident and draw on their training and skills to effectively resolve a situation in the field.
There is a reason why John Wooden is considered one of the greatest teachers and coaches of all time, in any sport.
Take care.
Brian Willis
Winning Mind Training – Dedicated to helping good trainers become great trainers and great trainers to deliver awesome training.
The Excellence in Training Academy – Where trainers come to grow. – a source of inspiration for trainers who love what they do and are seeking inspiration, insight and strategies to help them get better.
Join the Community today and get the first month free. Join by December 31 and you will could be one of two members who will a full scholarship to the 2016 ILEETA Conference (Conference fee, travel expenses and accommodations.)
Interested in hosting an Excellence in Training Presentation, Seminar or Course? Contact to me at winningmind@mac.com and we can work together to determine what will best suit your needs.