This says a great deal about the participant, as well as our approach to training and development. My focus today is on you, the participant, and how to get the most out of any training that you participate in either voluntarily, or as a sponsored program from your employer.
1. Remember that whatever you are ready for is ready for you. As an example: If you are ready to learn how to upgrade your prospect and client list, then the information is available to teach you to do that.
2. Not everything in a training session or program is going to connect with everyone in the room. That is an impossible objective, so go into the meeting looking for ‘one' thing to take with you. There is always at least one thing.
3. Open your parachute. We tell our new clients that 'the mind is like a parachute, it only works when it is open.' Keep an open mind as you will surely hear something that is new and different.
4. Get involved in the session. It is easy to hide in a session and just wait for time to pass. It is uncomfortable to participate, to role play, and to ask those questions that you think might be stupid or challenging. The more you put into a session the more you will get out.
5. Implement something. I heard Tony Robbins say years ago that knowledge is not power, but knowledge in action is power. Take something that you've learned and put it to action. Commit to doing something different, new, and uncomfortable, even though you might fail; then try it again.
At Anthony Cole Training Group we love training and coaching. We love it when someone tells us in subsequent meetings that they ‘tried something and it worked.' Often they don't believe it will and so they've learned. What may be just as important is trying something new and it doesn't work. That is learning to take risk and growing, which is a valuable lesson in training and development.
Finally, make sure that outside of any training program you participate in, engage in reading. I remember Mark Victor Hansen quoting Charlie Jones: "Except for the people you meet, the books you read and the audio material you listen to you will be exactly the same person 3 years from now that you are today."
Not a good place to be is it?
