Training trouble? Activate shield deflector
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Humor & comedy, Travel, Uncategorized
If you put yourself in the spotlight as a trainer, as a learning and development specialist, it follows that at times you’ll get burned. And that spotlight can be mighty hot. In my 20 plus years of designing and leading training workshops I’ve had my fair share of challenges:
- a particularly rude participant coupled with an insanely early gig (try being educational at 4 am)
- a training room where the heat was broken …. in the middle of winter
- realizing an hour into a training that the workshop had been advertised with two different room numbers and half the class was sitting in the other room mighty annoyed
- not having participant manuals show up for the first day of a two day training (that was based on the manual)
What helps when you find yourself sinking? When your stomach is floating somewhere above your body and your mouth is starting to rival the dryness of the Sahara?
Why activate your shield deflector of course.
Christine Comaford, in her book Rules for Renegades, talks about dealing with a particularly challenging supervisor when she worked at Microsoft. Her and her colleagues had a tradition, when ‘going in to battle’ with him – they’d touch their belts and pretend they were activating their shield deflector. It became a powerful ritual. One that was helpful in not getting sucked into a crazy making vortex.
And you? Knowing that challenges are part and parcel of all training, I suggest activating your own shield deflector next time you find yourself about to flounder. Square your shoulders, put a grin in your face and with shield in hand, dive into the fray.
Tags: christine comaford, inner mean girl, rules for renegades, shield deflector, training challenges