Invisible trainers are shameless creatures...if they find something good, useful and worthwhile, they like to grab it and use it. I’m always keeping my eye out for great articles, models, blogs and books, and when I find them, I like to share them with others who may also find them useful.

I’m like Bagpuss or a second-hand shop owner with a core group of loyal customers: I know what they want/need, and do my best to get it for them. Afterall, they are busy people who don’t always have the luxury of time to go searching for what they need. The source doesn’t really matter, as long as it is credible and meets their needs. Who delivers that information is also unimportant...as long as they deliver it well.

Sometimes fulfilling this role means creating brand-new material, but sometimes the perfect thing already exists. Why reinvent the wheel? If other trainers are happy to share their material and it meets my clients’ needs, then it makes total sense to ask their permission to use it, and credit them with it. The same goes with books and video clips and websites, particularly when creating a blended package: The invisible trainer is happy use what is already there, as long as it is fit for purpose.

As a breed, training designers tend to have small egos. We don’t especially want ownership of content or to create copywrited models. We want people to learn. Yes, I often create original material in the course of my work, but this is often based around applying some theory, model or principle to a particular environment. Otherwise it can be translating in-company information into practical behaviours or creating bespoke exercises to bring specific material to life. That is just helping people to understand and learn, and I’m in the learning business, not on X-Factor.

Sheridan Webb

Keystone Development