By Ann Glumac
I love training – working with adults to help build on their assets, acquire new skills. It’s exciting, energizing work that leaves me feeling satisfied.
As a consultant and trainer, I collect articles that shine a spotlight on the importance of training, how it can improve the bottom line or increase an organization’s success. Written by consulting firms, business journalists or other trainers, these pieces reinforce my belief in the value of training—but frequently the most important point seems lost amid metrics and statistics and subjective evaluations. They only partially explain why I love training so much.
Simon Sinek’s excellent book on inspiration and leadership, Start With Why, compels us first to determine our cause, our purpose, our belief – not simply to focus on results or activities. His work helped me understand what was missing in these articles on training, why they seemed incomplete: Most articles were missing the irreducible “Why?”
When I asked myself “Why do I think training is important? Why do I love it so much?” I was able to articulate my purpose, my belief, in my own “Why” Statement:
Ann’s Why
We all have a deep-seated need to be productive and contribute in a meaningful way to something greater than ourselves. Many of us help meet that need through our work and/or community involvement.
Building upon our innate strengths and acquiring new skills help ensure that we get the maximum satisfaction from these efforts – meeting our need to contribute in a meaningful way and, in the process, enhancing the success of the organizations where we work.
While better performance, greater profits, higher sales, etc. are worthy goals, they don’t necessarily connect with or to the individual training participant, what he or she values.
Improving leadership skills, learning how to communicate more effectively, identifying better ways to manage conflict, developing greater mentoring abilities – all help an individual contribute more meaningfully to their organizations. And the results just might be improved efficiency, higher margins, more clients served, etc.
Training is vitally important, first and foremost, because it helps individuals satisfy their personal need to contribute to a greater good; this intrinsic motivation is more enduring and more compelling than reaching a sales target or a performance metric.
It’s the “Why.”
Why is training important to you?