Excellence in Training – This is About You.

I have written a number of posts and articles with the message, “It is Not About You.” As a trainer you are not the hero of your presentations and your classes, your officers are. Your job is to be the wise and humble mentor and remember it is about them.

What is about you however, is how you treat people in training. How you treat people in training sends powerful messages.

If you are going to embarrass people, pick on people or belittle people in your training you are teaching two powerful, and dangerous lessons:

1. Training is not a safe place to come and learn.
2. When you are in a position of authority you can treat people the same way.  

If you run a “stress academy”, or “boot camp” style academy where you are continually screaming at recruits and and using physical exercise to punish them then you are likely going to get three categories of officers who graduate from your academy:

1. The Gamers: This group of officers realizes it is a game. They play the game when they are in training and they are fine when they get out in the field.
2. The In Your Face Cops: These people learn that once you are in a position of authority then you can treat people the way they were treated in the academy. Once they are out in the field these officers start a lot of fights and generate a huge number of citizens complaints because they are always in people’s faces.
3. The Subservient Officer: In the field this officer will back down when someone gets in their face or challenges them in any way. When trainers watch the videos of these interactions they go crazy and yell, “I taught them better than that.”. No, you actually taught them to respond that way through your training. 

If however:

• You treat officers with respect,
• you have high standards,
• you challenge them to perform at their best,
• you push them to always get better,
• you believe in them,
• you teach them to believe in themselves,
• you encourage them,
• you celebrate their successes,
• you teach them decision making,
• you allow them to fail,
• you teach them how to grow and get better through failure and,
• you hold them accountable for their behaviours.

The result will likely be:

• Professional officers,
• who understand the power of unconditional respect,
• make good decisions,
• hold themselves accountable,
• embrace the pursuit of excellence,
• and understand the importance of growing relationships. 

So, while in some aspects it is Not About You, at the same time it is All About You.  

When you accept the role of a trainer, you also accept the responsibility that comes with it. 

Take care and always remember Life’s Most Powerful Question – What’s Important Now?

Brian Willis 

Winning Mind Training – Dedicated to helping the men and women of law enforcement Embrace the Suck, focus on What’s Important Now and Dare to Be Great.  

Interested in hosting an Excellence in Training Presentation, Seminar or Course? Please contact to me at winningmind@mac.com and we can work together to determine what will best suit your needs. Make sure you ask about the Seminar / Mentor package.