Recently my wife and I went to a popular restaurant with a group of friends. The restaurant had a great reputation as evidenced by the lineup outside the door. Despite the great reputation the service and the food were both mediocre. In fact, based on my initial interaction with the person I believe was the manager or owner of the restaurant I would have walked out if we were not with a group. So why am I telling you this?
Regardless of your reputation as a trainer, regardless of the buzz created by past performance you always have to produce. Every time you teach, every presentation you deliver you owe it to the people you are training to be at the top of your game. It may be the 100th time you delivered the material, but for the audience it is likely the first time they have experienced it. Even if they have been to that class before it should be different than the time before, and ideally better than the time before. It will be different and better as a result of your critiquing your performance each time and improving the manner in which you deliver the material.
If you are not evaluating your performance as a trainer and seeking to improve the content and the delivery of your programs, you are doing a disservice to your officers.
Having just finished writting this I feel like a hypocrite and owe you an apology. I have committed to post a blog entry every Tuesday morning. Many of you are subscribers and weekly readers of the Excellence in Training blog. Last week I failed to post. I failed to produce. I failed to deliver. I am sorry for that. There are lots of excuses such as travel schedule, writers block, etc but they are just that – excuses. I am sorry I failed to deliver and thank you for your continued support and readership.
Take care.
Brian Willis
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