September 1, 7:13 pm
Managers, are you thinking like trainers?
Lately my wife and I have been teaching our 6-yr old daughter about the consequences of both wise and foolish choices. But longtime readers and clients know I’m not a fan of the word “consequences,” because it’s almost always used in a negative connotation. One of my preferred phrases is “ripple effects.”
So this evening, while we were feeding some ducks down at a nearby lake, the normally still water was full of ripple effects from the motion of the ducks. I took the opportunity to show our daughter the “ripple effects” of the ducks’ movements — and that the ducks were probably not even aware of them. I pointed out that everything we do causes ripple effects — many that we’re not even aware of. It was a great teachable moment for a six-year old girl.
As we were standing there I thought briefly about how many managers overlook teachable moments with the people on their teams — and how their teams suffer as a result. Too often managers make (incorrect) assumptions about what people know or what they want to know. Between that and not learning how to train others, way too many teachable moments slip by unnoticed.
The consequences —or ripple effects— of not teaching your teams is costly.
The good news for managers is that learning how to train can be done online.
Filed in Training, Management, Team Building, Workplace, Train the Trainer, Coaching
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