“Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.”
Amy Poehler
As the Sergeant of the Skills and Procedures Unit in the Training Section of the Calgary Police Service for the last 8 ½ years of my career, I had the pleasure of going to work every day with a group of people who challenged and inspired me. If that is not the case for you, then where do you find a group of people to spend time with who will challenge and inspire you to be a better trainer, teacher and coach? Here are some ideas.
Read and study. There are a lot of great books out there, which can serve to challenge and inspire you. Read books on leadership, learning, teaching, training, mindset, psychology and any other topics of interest to you. Spend time with those books not just to see how many you can read, but to study them, reflect on the core messages in the book, seek to apply those messages to what you teach, strive to connect the dots between what you are learning and what you already know and share those ideas with others to get their perspectives and insights. If possible, find at least one other person to be continually discussing what you are learning and bouncing ideas off each other. You can meet in person, use Skype or connect on the the phone. If you can find 2 or 3 people for this discussion group, even better.
Join the Excellence in Training Academy community. There are currently 220 interviews with authors, researchers, trainers and law enforcement professionals on a wide variety of training topics in the Member’s Area and new content is added every week. There are also 12 webinars with more coming in 2020. By spending time every week listening to these interviews on your commute to and from work, reflecting on the ideas and content the interviewees share and taking action to implement at least one new idea every week you will continue to be inspired and challenged to grow and develop. (Use the code eitblog to get the first month’s Individual or Training Unit membership at no cost). Again, if you can find at least one other person to be continually discussing what you are learning and bouncing ideas off each other it will help expand your thinking and understanding and help you learn the material at a deeper level.
Join ILEETA (the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association). As a member of ILEETA you get access to the ILEETA Journal, a quarterly digital publication with articles on a variety of training related topics, the ILEETA Digest, E-Bulletins and the ILEETA Learning Lab. The Learning Lab features 60-minute interviews with trainers who presented at the annual conference. In that hour they share key learning points and takeaways from their conference presentations. Find a way to attend the annual conference (there is still time to register for the 2020 conference). The ILEETA conference brings together over 700 law enforcement trainers from around the world for 6 days of training, dialogue, discussion, debate, exchange of ideas, and fellowship. You will be inspired and challenged to take your skills, knowledge and training to a whole new level. This is also a great way to find people who can be part of your ongoing learning and discussion group. Technology allows you to easily connect with people across the continent and around the world.
If you can find a group of people who will challenge and inspire you, who you can spend time with in person on a regular basis great, if not, then build a virtual group starting with just one other trainer. This group can meet virtually for most of the year and then in person once a year at a conference like ILEETA or at a small learning Mastermind gathering that you organize. The key is to find people who will challenge you and inspire you to grow as a trainer, a coach, a mentor and a leader and then find ways to spend a lot of time with them.
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. Join the Community of trainers committed to the pursuit of excellence in and through training. Use the code eitblog to get the first month’s membership (individual or training unit) free.
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.
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