Welcome to our new blog about Leadership and Training
I have been a trainer and educator for more than two decades. I love training because you see people begin to realize that there may be a different way to do things. You can connect them to new possibilities and excite their understanding of how to be agents of change.
So why start a blog about leadership and training? Well, one of my frustrations is that training is so misunderstood. How it and leadership work together is not a mystery. Instead, they should be coordinated in an exercise meant to strengthen the mind and body of an organization. Training by itself, it is not enough, but when combined with some key elements, it can be a powerful force for good. Unfortunately, many companies do not employ it in the best manner. In fact, they make some key mistakes. These are some that really annoy me:
They treat training like it is a magic event and should "fix" people. This idea is so far from the reality of how professional development works. Training is a tool, which when used in the proper way, can be very useful, but alone, it is just an event that may leave you with a catch phrase, or fond memory, but may not lead to real substantive change.
Top leaders work outside of the training process. This is a flawed strategy because most of the problems in a company come from the top. The behaviors and culture of the top leadership influence the entire organization. Training is effective when top leadership is also trained on how to adjust their behaviors to support and accommodate the training of those within the organization. In other words, great leadership training starts from the top and works downward.
If the environment is toxic, training doesn't stick. You wouldn't have a fish in a filthy tank. Why? Because a filthy tank will eventually kill the fish. Why do companies expect that training will help people overcome a toxic, non-supportive environment? Those toxins exist because bad practices and systemic issues are allowed to fester and grow. This is another reason to train from the top as toxic environments are often the result of poor leadership.
There are many more mistakes I could name, but these stand out. As I work with companies, I find that while our trainings are often praised, they are done in the midst of a toxic environment, with the expectation that a little training will "fix" things. It seems that companies use training like a balm to soothe their pains, but the real issue is that they keep falling down the same steps. Those continued bumps and bruises need a different solution and a simple salve is not enough.
So it may sound like I am a bit bitter and not all that thrilled with companies. It might even be dangerous to admit that companies hire me to train, yet are ill prepared to do what is necessary to really make the training work. But I started this blog because I know that it can be better. I have seen it, lived it, created it, and enjoyed it. Now I want to share it.
This Blog Will Provide Meaningful Knowledge
I want to share my three decades of experience in the areas of leadership and leadership development to provide you with a unique view of how to improve leadership and training in your organization. I am not perfect, and I have no silver bullets. What I do have is a realistic, pragmatic, and highly effective approach.
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