Training Industry Blog

As you wade through the stress of a turbulent and uncertain world, do you find yourself demanding more from yourself and your employees? This often happens when your brain is trapped in protection mode. According to a blog post published by the Harvard Business Review, "...research has shown that the more executives have to do, the less their company earns."

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In my previous blog, I addressed the fact that most MANAGERS are not effective and why. Now, we will turn our attention to the same problem as it applies to LEADERS. The supporting research for this was provided in the previous blog “Our Problem Is ... That Most Managers And Leaders Are NOT Effective” (see for reference). So let’s address the difference between “Managers” and “Leaders,” as a starting point. To begin, while the “Manager” role is a formal one, “Leaders” may be either formal or informal. In fact our research (and another previous blog on Followership, “The Other Half Of Leadership”) point out that about half of the characteristics of leaders

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A friend started a small business involving a great deal of transcribing. A colleague recommended that he try an expensive program to reduce the amount of repetitive typing. He scoffed at the idea, saying he couldn’t count all the spam emails he received for similar labor-saving software. His colleague persisted. She showed him how the program worked, and how it increased productivity. He adopted it in his business and has reaped the benefits ever since. Every one of us can recall occasions of deciding to try something new on the recommendation of a friend or colleague. It could have been something simple, like choosing a particular movie or book, or trying a new restaurant. Trusting people whose experiences and values are similar to our own is natural. We seek out their opinions and value them more than advertising, rating services, and reviews.

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In my last blog, I began describing how organizations can better support current business initiatives, increase organizational responsiveness, and reduce curriculum acquisition and development costs by alining their business needs with their instructional assets. The first of the six steps of this process in Documenting your Business Needs. Following are the activities that are typically performed during this step.

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TrainingIndustry.com annually publishes the top trends that are reshaping the training industry. At the Mid-Year point of 2011, here is how those trends are materializing, how some are taking off, and how some are slow to be adopted.

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I recently attended my neighbor's daughter's graduation. She was graduating from a military combat program that was conducted at Fort Jackson in South Carolina. Besides being happy for my neighbors, proud of the young lady that used to babysit my children, and humbled by the commitment that the brave men and women of the armed services make for our country every day, I was fascinated at how the army had integrated its vision, mission, and core values into every aspect of the operation, including its reward criteria.

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People don’t remember things just because you told them it was important to remember. The more they passively listen to you, the less likely they will remember. Worse, they are less likely to do anything creative with what you tell them.

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I’m learning to play the guitar. I don’t really have a so-called bucket list, but I do have a few things I’d like to accomplish over the next few years. One of them is to play guitar in a group and to sing original music that I’ve written.

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In a recent conversation with the head of sales training in a medical technology company, I was asked, "How do we train our sales professionals to be the most knowledgeable, credible and efficient in the market?" In other words, she wants to make sure her sales team is a differentiator! Not just depending on the quality of the products and services, but that the people in sales truly make a difference to the client.

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People way too often assume that they and other managers and leaders are a lot more effective than they really are. If they are, then why do we continue to get the following results ...

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