3 ways you get in your own way as a trainer or facilitator.
Lack of preparation: TED talk speakers spend an average 200 hours preparing their 20 minute talk.
You know too much: And you want people to know if so you can make a good impression.
You’ve lost the learners edge: There is something refreshing about adopting the attitude of the learner.
This post is about those times when your ego is bigger than the job requires and it affects the way you work.
Let me explain.
I got nervous this week – really nervous – the kind of nervous where beads of sweat drip down your spine and you bleed from the forehead.
I’ve been working with some of the top consultants in Australia (the kind of discreet group that don’t need to advertise the fact, unlike I am doing right now 🙂
The thing that sets them apart is that they have more love for the client. The value of working in that ‘space’, for folks like you and me, is you get to do real work, not some piecemeal-template-off-the-shelf-product.
When you do work that makes a difference, when you’re in service to the client; loving the client, something special happens:
You learn how to learn when you’re facilitating the learners learning J
I couldn’t resist that last sentence.
We are in a privileged position as facilitators. We get to help in organisational change. We get to hear from the frontline, and the top of the line, on how they want to make an impact – to sales, service, product, or their company culture.
Problem is, our ego gets involved in that; lives for it; feeds off it. We know too much, we have great advice, and we want to give it.
All this is good and well, but I saw the danger of it this play out this week.
For me, it was a new client, and new material, so I had a lot of nervous energy. You’re only as good as your last gig in the training game. And with stakeholders in the room, the stakes were high. Blow this and I kiss goodbye to loads of great work (at a great rate)
This is where it gets interesting. As I went about doing my thing, it became apparent I was going off script. I really left the purpose of the session behind, instead doing my own thing; relying on what I knew.
And this is where we have to be careful. As a defence against anxiety, we move toward what we know; our old stories, and the same activities. Before long, we lose sight of the objective of the session and build together something that resembles a scattering of lego blocks of ideas rather than a tight, considered script.
It leaves the participant wondering where you’re going with that hodgepodge of ideas, and it leaves you wondering how you’re going to clean up your mess, while you’re in front of the group.
I even saw what I would have considered a very experienced consultant sink in the ego of his own extensive knowledge and experience.
Here’s what to do if you find yourself floundering with a new client and new material:
- Check your ego at the door. Be a learner again, ask questions, be humble, get curious, don’t assume anything, lean on your co-facilitators and collegues.
- Take everything you think you know and put it aside, each new client is unique and new material means new approaches. You wouldn’t want your lawyer or accountant treating you like every other client.
- Work out what the one purpose for each session is. What is the place you need to get the participants to? What’s the one thing they need to know? Get that straight. Even if it means your delivery is going to be a bit wooden; step through it clearly, rather than trying to bring in all your bells and whistles.
- Talk through your session in a casual manner with a friend, doing is like this irons out the kinks where you’ll forget stuff.
Hey, if it was easy, everyone could do it.