Last week we talked about the fact that great ideas are not enough, you need to take action to implement them. It can be scary to take a new idea or concept back to your agency and implement it in training. What is it that many trainers are afraid of:
- There will be pushback and resistant from your officers, management or both.
- The new idea may fail.
- People will ridicule you as the guy who “always wants to change things”.
The first step is to come up with your ‘Why’. Why is the new training or new idea important? How will it enhance the training and in doing so enhance the competence and confidence of the people you train? What are the benefits to the officers, their families, the community and the agency of the new idea? Knowing and believing in your ‘WHY’ will help you to deal with any negativity you may deal with.
Make a list of all the things you are afraid might happen. Ensure the list contains the names of all the sceptics, the cynics and what they might say to discredit what you are doing. List all the objections your officers, your fellow trainers and your bosses may have. Once you anticipate all the possible objections you will be prepared in the event they do happen and because your WHY is so strong you will not be swayed or discouraged.
Reflect for a minute on the names and faces of those you think might object. How many of them are the whining snivelling malcontents and the dream stealers? How many of them are the people that bitch and complain about how things are and the fact nothing ever changes, and then howl the loudest when something does change? These people like to complain. It is in their nature. They are the ones Martin Luther King refers to in the following quote. They will get over the fear of change once you have implemented the new idea and move on to something else to complain about.
“The soft-minded man always fears change. He feels security in the status quo, and he has an almost morbid fear of the new. For him, the greatest pain is the pain of a new idea.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
If you need management approval to implement the new idea then remember these wise words from Seth Godin, “Take the blame and give away the credit.” Let the boss know the new idea is well thought out and researched and you are positive it will be successful. Guarantee them that if for some reason it does fail you will be the first to stand up and say, “This is on me.” When it is successful make sure to give them the credit. Ask the officers in the training to send an e-mail to that boss and thank them for their support for the new initiative. Also thank the officers for being open minded enough to engage in the new training to ensure they received the greatest benefit. It always takes courage to embrace something new. Giving away the credit will go a long way to smoothing the path for new ideas in the future.
Across North America I see trainers who let the fear of “what might happen”, and “what people might say” stop them from introducing new ideas and making positive changes to their training. I also watch other trainers follow Nike’s advice and “Just Do It”. The Just Do It trainers often encounter little of none of the imagined resistance and as a result of their courage their training is continually improving, as are their officers.
Follow the advice of Roy Bethge and The Virtus Group and Grow the Courage. The stakes are too high not to.
Take care.
Brian Willis
Winning Mind Training – Dedicated to helping good trainers become great trainers and great trainers to deliver awesome training.
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