“You are not the hero. Your job is to make your people the hero and your job as a trainer is to be the wise and humble mentor.”
Nancy Duarte
One of the consistent traits of great trainers and leaders that come up in class discussions is humility. “It’s Not About You.” Is one of the three guiding principles of the Excellence in Training program and the Dare to Be Great workshops. I also share the above philosophy from Nancy Duarte in both programs.
“Regardless of what you have accomplished and achieved you will always be good relative to what you can become. Greatness, it turns out is inherently a dynamic process and not an end state and the moment you start to think of yourself as great your slide to mediocrity will have begun.”
Jim Collins
Be a student. Continue to learn and grow. Read, listen to podcasts and audio books, attend training courses, workshops, seminars, and conferences. Learn from every class you teach and from the people you teach.
Continually seek ways to understand and implement the science, evidence, and research to improve your training and enhance the learning environment for the learners who participate. Teach for understanding, learning, retention, and the ability for the learners to recall and apply what they are learning instead of teaching to the test.
Seek and embrace feedback from the participants in the training, both good and bad.
I once heard someone share this bit of wisdom (I would give them credit if I could remember who it was), “People don’t care what you know, or what you have done. What they care about is what you can teach them.” People are not interested in listening to a trainer tell them how many people told you that they think you are a great trainer. Show them, don’t tell them. Let your training speak for itself. Let your training speak for you. If you provide high quality, engaging training the people attending your training will be your biggest advocates and your greatest advertising.
“Worry not who knows of you. Seek to be worth knowing.”
Confucius
You don’t need to post pictures on social media of an evaluation form where you got all 5’s from someone. You don’t need to post quotes on social media from someone in the audience who felt it was, “The best training I have ever attended.” Save those testimonials for your website and your brochures.
Keep learning. Keep striving. Stay curious. Be humble. Seek to be worth knowing. Seek to be a trainer whose training changes behavior.
Take care.
Brian Willis
Winning Mind Training – Providing practical training to law enforcement professionals in the areas of instructor development, Performance Enhancement Imagery, leadership and mindset.
The Excellence in Training Academy – A membership site for law enforcement trainers seeking to invest in their ongoing professional development. Join Now.
Dare to Be Great Leadership – Practical leadership training.