If your message is not being heard the way you intend it to be stop blaming the receivers and look in the mirror. This is what I finally did regarding my message about the ‘Warrior Spirit”. I have been speaking on the Winning Mind and the Warrior Spirit for over 15 years. In that time I have received push back and backlash regarding the term Warrior. In fact, there are Chiefs and Sheriffs who will not let their trainers use the ‘W’ word and will not send people to seminars if the word Warrior is in the title.
For those of you who have suffered the wrath of your bosses regarding the Warrior word I apologize for my role in creating the misunderstandings.
I used to blame other people saying, “They don’t understand the message I am conveying.”, or “That is not what I teach.” I finally took the advice of my friend and mentor Bill Westfall and asked myself, “What piece of this do I own?” If people are focusing on the WAR part of Warrior, that is not their fault, it is mine. I am obviously not conveying the message about the warrior traits of courage, empathy, honesty, compassion, integrity, honour, bravery, professionalism, commitment to learning, humility, and a dedication to service of others in an effective manner.
Is it what I say? Is it how I say it? Is it the sequencing of the material in a seminar? I have come to the realization it is all these things. Since having the courage to admit I am part of the problem I have restructured and renamed my signature law enforcement seminar. Instead of Harnessing the Winning Mind and Warrior Spirit, my most popular law enforcement seminar is The Heroes Path to Excellence in Law Enforcement. Maybe not as sexy title and not as attractive to most cops as the Winning Mind and Warrior Spirit one, but more reflective of my core message. The change in title makes it harder to get butts in the seats but, I get very positive feedback during and after the seminar.
Some of the material has changed. Certainly the way I convey the material has changed. The biggest change however, is the sequencing of the material. I used to spend the morning talking about The Winning Mind and The Warrior Spirit and the afternoon talking about The Pursuit of Personal Excellence. Interestingly enough while the morning was considered by many officers to be the cooler, more sexy stuff, the afternoon actually had a greater emotional impact on many of them. The problem, I finally admitted, was that the message being received was they were two separate concepts. In my mind they were all part of the whole message and one flowed easily into the other. Unfortunately, that was not always how the message was being received. I now do a far better job of integrating the entire message and weaving the core concepts through the entire day. I still talk about the Warrior Spirit, but it is now perceived to be part of the commitment to personal excellence, and a reflection of the core values of law enforcement agencies and not as a separate piece.
If you have the opportunity to attend one of the upcoming Heroes Path to Excellence in Law Enforcement seminars I would love to get your feedback on the content, delivery and sequencing. If you think there is a sexier name please give me your thoughts on that as well.
What about your training? What misunderstanding or disconnects are there? What piece of that do you own? Do you need to change the message, the delivery or the sequencing to improve the way the message is being received?
Take care.
Brian Willis
Inspiring law enforcement professionals to – Think differently about training and leadership by applying Life’s Most Powerful Question – What’s Important Now?
At Winning Mind Training we are driven by our dedication to inspiring the pursuit of personal excellence and our belief that every law enforcement officer deserves to experience awesome training.
Be sure to check out the Resources Page for book recommendations, life resources and training links.
I have Excellence in Training Courses scheduled in Littleton, CO, Tulsa, OK, Vancouver, B.C., Amarillo, TX and Madison, WI. Go to www.brianw260.sg-host.com to register now while there is still room.
If you would like to book me to speak at your event or to your agency on Excellence in Training, The Heroes Path to Excellence in Law Enforcement, The Pursuit of Personal Excellence or W.I.N.: Lessons From Life’s Most Powerful Question contact me at winningmind@mac.com.
Resistance bands are an integral part of my workouts every week. If you are interested in highly effective function fitness training that is easy to use in your home, in a hotel room or at the park then click on the Resistance Band Training link below.
Address: