What trainers do

One of the most rewarding experiences of mine was when I got to be invited to speak to a charming group of professional trainers in the hospitality and tourism industry. No notes and no scripts were needed as trainers all share a kindred spirit.

I started my talk with two very thought-provoking questions:

What is a trainer’s business?

Have you ever encountered a situation when you muttered to yourself, “these people are so hard to train, no matter how many times I have trained them to do something they are so stubborn in their ways they still refuse to change?”

All of the members smiled and nodded their heads while some contemplated on the question, “what is the nature of the training business.”

I explained. Trainers are in the transportation business. Forget Uber, forget cars. I said, “Trainers are in the business of transporting people from where they are to where they should be tapping into their untapped potentials.”

And they all smiled with agreement. And then I gave a little commentary answering my own question.

Whenever we find certain people who are so difficult to train as they are extremely resistant to change, the most important thing to remember is to keep our cool and remember this truism: “We can only teach. We cannot make people learn.”

This is why there is the famous axiom that says, “The moment the student is ready, the teacher appears.”

I have had managers from different industries tell me today that they used to serve as hotel waiters and would eagerly serve in functions where I would be speaking. The more creative among them would even swap their schedules and give up their breaks or vacation just to make sure that they get assigned in the room where I would be doing training. And guess what? I get that warm fuzzy feeling when these managers would say, I applied the lessons you taught, remembered the things you said and that enabled me to be in my current position now as a manager of so-and-so company.

I have had troubled students I spoke to years ago tell me now that they were on the verge of losing hope but after listening to me they applied the lessons and have graduated with honors. Doesn’t this warm your heart?

But here is the key. When I train on leadership, public speaking, excellence, productivity, performance, etc. all the lessons will always be wrapped up with values. Skills are easily learned when the participants have good attitude. Lives improve when the character is challenged to become better.

And so my advice to these seasoned professionals is that no matter what training programs they present, they need to wrap up the lessons in terms of character formation and values enhancement.

This is what makes training meaningful. It affords us the opportunity to affect lives for the better. John Taylor Gatto, former New York City and New York State Teacher of the Year of many years ago has compiled the following list that he calls “The 20 Qualities of an Educated Person.”

In compiling this list, Gatto reviewed the answers to questionnaires given to a number of Corporate Personnel Managers and College Admission Officers. According to these two groups, an educated person will demonstrate:

1. A broadly knowledgeable mind.

2. Self-confidence.

3. A life purpose.

4. A touch of class.

5. Good leadership skills.

6. The ability to work with a team.

7. Patience.

8. Good public speaking skills.

9. Good writing skills.

10. Resourcefulness.

11. A desire for responsibility.

12. Honesty.

13. A public spirit.

14. The ability to work well alone.

15. An eye for details.

16. The ability to focus at will.

17. Perseverance.

18. The ability to handle pressure.

19. Curiosity.

20. An attractive personal style.

Do you notice how these have little to do with academic knowledge and skills, but a LOT to do with CHARACTER?
And this is why training is not just training alone. It involves educating people and helping people shape up to become better people.

(Experience two inspiring days with Francis Kong learning leadership skills in this year’s first run of Level Up Leadership on March 15-16 at Makati Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries contact April at 0928 559 1798).  BUSINESS MATTERS (BEYOND THE BOTTOM LINE)  Francis  J. Kong