What Advice Would You Give Your Younger Self? This Team Had Some Valuable Insights

I recently ran training with some participants new to a role. Part of our workshop discussion was dedicated to advice and feedback.?It began with me asking, “What is the best advice that you have ever received?”.??This resulted in an interesting discussion, as the question raised was, how can one piece of advice be “the best”? Well, as I found out, it depends on the context, objective and how it made an impact on the individual, team, company and the situation.

The objective of the activity was to recognise that whilst they had a wide range of abilities and experience they were contributing to the role, it's always important to be open to receiving advice and feedback.

I shared my thoughts on this (whilst sometimes seen as a cliché, in the L&D space!). I truly believe you never stop learning, and it's paramount to be open and curious to everyone you meet and every interaction. You never know what clues it might give you and what journey it will take you on!

We moved on to the second part of the activity and this time I asked, “What advice would you give your “younger self” starting out in this role?”.??This generated a wide range of responses as they reflected on “their younger selves” and how their experiences over time had shaped them, both personally as well as professionally.??

Some of the responses I heard included, “Don’t take a customer’s response personally”, “Have the courage to ask THAT question”, “Don’t try to emulate another colleague’s behaviour, be yourself,” “Always follow up promptly” and “Ask for help if you need it”.??

It was only fair that I also joined in on the activity, so I shared my personal experience with the team. When I began training and facilitating, many moons ago, I had the misguided belief that I needed to know the answer to EVERYTHING!?

I thought because I was the trainer, I should be the subject matter expert, provide the textbook answer to every million and one question asked during a training workshop.??

However, the reality is whilst not humanly possible, every training session yielded different participants, experiences, skills, background and questions.??Whilst in many cases, I may know the answer, an excellent trainer will always “facilitate a robust discussion” utilising the “brain’s trust in the room” not only to apply adult learning principles of self-direction, motivation and (past) experiences, but also to ensure no stone is unturned, as they may lead to new key customer insights.

During the final activity, I asked them to jot down a list of advice and skills required for the new customers they would meet post training.??I didn’t ask them to share all their responses as this was a self-reflection, application activity.??However, I can bet there was definitely things like, having empathy, curiosity, being reliable, and authentic, as these are some the best ways to build trustworthy and valuable customer relationships.??

I smiled to myself and had my own self-reflection post this training session.??What an interesting, engaging and motivated group of people I had the pleasure of meeting. Oh, and I also I wondered what new advice will lie in store for them to continually shape and guide them both professionally and personally… ????

This article was written by Front and Centre's Senior Project Lead, Heidi Mawer