I saw another urgent request on any answers followed up by two immediate offers of help which look to have done the job. I am used to receiving such acts of generosity myself over the years by way of tools, techniques, materials and most of all the time people have given me to help me develop as a trainer. I find this a very encouraging, positive and unusual philosophy which I do not find in other areas of business or even in life so much. What is it that drives trainers to be this way? Has any research been done on this behaviour? Are we all just foolish optimists being taken for a ride. I prefer to think not based ont the poeple I have been lucky enough to learn from.
What other views are out there on this aspect of trainer behaviour?
Cheers.
Nick
12 Responses
my three ha’penceworth
I expect to pass through this life but once
Any kindness I can show
Or any service I can do, for any other human being
Let me do it now
Let me not defer, nor neglect it
For I do not expect to pass this way again
Rus
http://www.coach-and-courses.com
And my penn’orth
‘We make a living from what we get; we make a life by what we give.’ from Winston Churchill
Most trainers by nature are givers or they would not last long in the profession, or indeed even be attrcted to it 🙂
Paul Matthews
Is that so?
Interesting you say that but…
Just did a quick scan of the Q and A posts…
A rough average would be 1 in every 100 readers posts anything…
If this was an Engineering or IT or Builders forum I am guessing the responses would be much higher…Maybe Trainers aren’t as generous as you think?
This is a bit like "publication of the week" on Have I Got news For You but here is an example of a cry for help on UK Welder…I think Welders are more helpful than Trainers…
http://www.ukwelder.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11704&st=0
Great sharers
Great question, Nick. I am relatively new to the community but find that members seem to be very responsive to questions from others. I wouldn’t know if this is something specific to this community but people do seem to be very helpful and encouraging and willing to share.
Steve, I think you are right to point out the numbers. Not sure if you have heard of the 90:9:1 rule (explained here) which suggests that for every 100 people you would get one who participates a lot. I am sure there are variations across different communities, as you suggest.
Interesting
Great article…very interesting and I have to say true in my experience.
No comment 🙂
Contribution rate on the zone?
Hi Steve, you are accurate about the low contribution ratio to members on the zone. I can think of many reasons why some folks would read and not actually write back on things. My experience, observations and the question was related to my overall experinece of trainers in life and not just on the TZ answers page. Also even with the small percentage contributing good answers are usually forthcoming.
Real Life
Hi Nick
Completely agree that in real life "most" people who work in Training are very generous with time and generosity of sharing what they know. I wish there were more "real life" newtwrok groups where we could all get together quarterly to share ideas etc…
If anyone is interested in forming such a group I would be happy to help organise…
Quarterly heads up?
Hi Steve, great idea, follwing TZ live there are some action learning groups so why not a regular heads up on specific topics or general issues or both. If we found a central place to meet at low/no cost i am suer we could generate an agenda worth the time to attend once per quarter or so?
Maybe this is worth a separate question?
Cheers.
Nick
Good idea
Nick
I’ve tried before, many times and there is no interest whatsoever. I used to belong to a Government funded one that met twice a year and it was excellent but lack of funds meant it was closed.
Maybe Training Zone could organise something? I could host the first event so there would be no cost other than catering?
regards
Steve
Meet-up
Hi Steve
That sounds like great idea – why don’t we just give it a go? Maybe an informal meeting? Let me know what you think best and thanks for the offer of somewhere to meet.
I’d be keen to get this off the ground so happy to organise.
Groups
Hi Martin
I have found 2 existing groups that already meet a few times a year so will attend these.
BILD and the one mentioned on my other post.
Regards
Steve
Trusting trainers
I like to think it goes with the territory. When you spend your whole life helping other people do things better or feel better about themselves you just can’t help responding to requests for help. Training can’t happen without a trusting relationship being in place and one of the ways people earn trust is to display it.
Gee! Aren’t we lovely?