Tag: growth

Training in the workplace: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

When you’re in charge of training someone, the only thing you can do is give them an opportunity to perform. You can show them what is required to thrive in their specific role – what they need to do, best practices, etc. – but you can’t make them do it. You can spend hours explaining the tactics of a position, but you can’t teach someone to have passion, to be curious, or to have a better work ethic. But if they don’t want to do it, or if they just don’t understand/aren’t picking it up quickly enough, you can’t force them to do what you would do. If it’s not working, eventually you will have to do something about it.

Be careful to not make an emotional decision about this. Be objective, but be kind. Are they just not doing something the way that you would do it, but they’re still getting the job done? Is their performance still acceptable? Are they making big enough strides where, even though they aren’t where you need them to be right now, they’re on their way to becoming what you need from them?

After you remove emotions and give their work an honest evaluation, talk with others who know the situation. Make sure you emphasize that they give you their true opinions about the work being completed by the person in question. It’s not about the individual. It should always be about the work and how it affects those around them. Many people are careful to criticize because they like the person they are evaluating or because they fear the other person will find out. But if they don’t let their true feelings be known, they are doing a disservice to the company and even to the individual. After all, maybe this isn’t what the individual wants. Maybe it’s not fulfilling for them and that is why they are not putting in the extra effort to learn and excel at their craft.

Ultimately, you must determine if you’ve done everything in your power (as the trainer/mentor) to help that person succeed. Do they only need to make a few adjustments or is it time to move on? Did you lead them to water? If so, it’s up to them to decide to drink…

Growth over comfort

Will you choose to be comfortable or to try to reach your potential?

Have you ever noticed that we make the most improvement when we are forced outside of our comfort zones? If that’s the case though, why aren’t we always pushing the limits of our comfort zones? It’s simple. It’s because we are creatures of comfort. Who doesn’t want to sleep in a warm, cozy bed? Or to not feel the pain of an intense workout? Of course we tend to stay within our comfort zones – it’s easier!

This is not to say that you always have to be going 100 mph in every area of your life, because at that rate you’re bound to burn out. But in order to move from average, mediocre, or good enough, to excellence, you can’t be complacent. Jim Collins said, “Good is the enemy of great. That’s why so few things become great.” Isn’t that the truth? So often we do just enough to get by – we’re ok with good, so we don’t push to be great. Good is comfortable. Great is difficult.

As I was reading the other day, I came across this quote by Benjamin Mays. He said, “The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities.” It echoes the same sentiment that Jim Collins describes above. We all have so much potential that we never live up to. Make sure you don’t waste your time here by not pursuing your dreams.

I’d rather fail trying than to never have tried at all. We will stumble when we have lofty goals. We’ll be uncomfortable at times. But remember, there is no growth without discomfort.