Train for Practice
The training days I’ve spent in a classroom or attended conventions listening to and taking notes from keynote speakers, combined with the number of hours spent reading books by acknowledged and respected as experts in leadership and continuous improvement would likely add up to more days than my four-year-old granddaughter has been on the planet. I value training for my own development. I feel it is my responsibility as a husband, father, son, brother, friend, co-worker, and leader to develop my skills and character. As I experience it, who I am in any one of those roles spills over into the others. I do not see them as separate roles I need to train in. Self-development is important to me as it applies in all areas of my life.
By the time we finish high school there is the expectation that whatever our vocation is that anything we do over the next three to ten years will train us to do what it is we feel called to do with our lives. That is, our purpose begins to be realized as we train for what we want to do.
For many once they start working, like me, that’s not the job they will be doing forever. I know for me that if someone had said when I started work at Canada Post as a Letter Carrier back in mid 1970’s that I’d retire as a National Director of Process Engineering in 2013, I would have thought they were not of sound mind. Then if they had added, and by 2021 you’ll be a consultant working as a Sr. Associate Partner in a firm that enables organizations to improve their processes, I would have surly thought they needed some help! But that’s exactly how it has turned out. Why such a career path? I suggest it was because I acknowledged and accepted that I was always training for the next position. Working to develop in four areas: Leadership, Technical ability, Business Acumen, and Coaching. I focused on developing my skills and honing my expertise with the goal to be of highest possible value I could be to those I live and work with. It remains my practice.
But classroom knowledge is of zero value unless it is applied. That is what I fear is the biggest waste of all, some go to school, University, Business Collage or Trade School and once they graduate, they fail to do two things: They fail to apply what they have learned to the fullest, and they fail to continue developing and applying themselves, in essence they stop training.
Consider this, if your organization invests in training you, the very best thing you can do for yourself and the organization you work for is to apply what is being taught and practice it. Beyond that, you need to take responsibility for your own personal development and training in the areas you are personally passionate about. The training shouldn’t stop.