What standards do you set for yourself? Are they higher than the standards you set for your officers? They should be. As a trainer you are in a leadership position. Being a leader means you need to demand more of yourself and set the standards for others.
Do you expect your students to show up on time, yet you stroll in the door of the classroom 5 minutes late at the start of the day and are late coming back from every break?
Do you expect your officers to show up prepared with all their gear ready to go, but show up without key pieces of equipment, or without the remote for your powerpoint?
Do you expect the people attending your courses to have read all the pre-reading material and the nightly reading assignments, but you are glancing at the lesson plan right before class to see what you are teaching that day?
Do you gripe about your officers never training on their own and not making a commitment to their training and then you never train?
Do you read, listen to audio boos and podcasts, attend conferences and seminars so you can stay current and provide the most up to date information to your officers?
Do you share information learned at conferences and seminars with fellow instructors?
Do you continually assess the way you deliver your presentations and continually refine them to enhance the learning experience for those attending your classes?
Our goal should be to always answer yes to these questions. Understand however, we are all human. Sometimes we slip. When you do, you need to ask yourself Life’s Most Powerful Question – What’s Important Now? That question will likely be all you need to get back on track.
Take care.
Brian Willis