Am I boring you?

I have been travelling again.

On a delayed flight back home as I try and write something intelligent. Today saw the end of the five courses I was scheduled to facilitate. It was good but could have been better. I have certainly improved but still find I fall desperately short of where I would like to be.

I was the worst student ever. I hated lectures or training and often found myself building complex contraptions from the contents of my pencil box. Now it is me standing in front of a crowd of people, who are listening and evaluating my every word.  Far removed from the inane boredom I used to feel and deep in new territory where I have the ability to create that same boredom in a number of unsuspecting students. Or to do the exact opposite and excite something within them to be better than they were. I am more than a little aware of how tenuous this balance can be!

There seems to be much for me to learn. The art of timing, developing interest, changing tack when interest is lost, reading an audience, speaking directly to my audience, and doing it all without prompts. I had a manager in SAB who believed the art of a good speaker was someone who could get up in front of an audience and convey his message without having prepared a thing. I fall well short of that mark!

I don’t think I am a trainer. It is something I do when asked, in order to pay the bills. Training is certainly not my passion. However it may be a small step on the way to me becoming a public speaker. Now that excites me! Public speaking has not always been a dream of mine. Instead it is something that has crept up on me with some stealth. Perhaps the experiences of the last year have lent some support to the notion I could be a good speaker and share something of a worthwhile message.

Therein of course lies the problem, the lack of a message which is interesting and worthy of a listenership. I have no amazing speciality, in depth research, wonderful stories, or even a remotely good stand on an issue. I do have a passion for fatherhood and the family and plenty of counter society thought. I fear it is not enough.

If this past year has taught me anything, it is that the unexpected happens. And when it does, one hopes you will be in the audience to cheer me on.

Heavy Concentration

It has been a long time.

Blogging just does not seem to fit in with the lifestyle of the travelling facilitator. A two day course repeated every 3 days over the last two weeks, each in a different town around the country, has drained me of any ability to communicate. The fact that I designed the course, has added extra pressure as it required optimisation post each iteration.

So far four courses down and one to go! They have gone well, and the ratings have been good. And I now have a weekend and the following week to find myself again, before launching into course number five.

Training management using a free flow discussion format requires nine hours of focussed concentration each day. On my feet and thinking, guiding conversations, eliciting insights, and playing the clown. By the end of the day, I am poor conversation, completely tapped out.

I have of course enjoyed much of the debate and conversation. I also cannot believe how much the course has improved as I have improved in my delivery, timing, and program changes. And I am getting paid for this piece of work, which makes a wonderful change for much of my effort this year.

There is light in the tunnel, but where the end may be is anyone’s guess! I like it that way…

Customer Service Rules

It’s Sunday night and I am in the Big Smoke. Johannesburg again!


Tomorrow will mark the start of my first ever training session. I am nervous as there is much riding on this training course. The two people who brought me onto the project have taken some big chances on both using me as a facilitator, as well as the cost, which is high. They have much to lose if this course goes wrong. The 16 candidates on the course represent the top layer of middle management, so this is a high profile intervention. If we are going to fail, we are going to do it spectacularly.

Then there are my own shortcomings. In my own business, I describe myself as a Management Consultant, and yet for the last couple of months I have been immersed in designing a customer service training course. I have never considered training to be one of my strengths, instead have been far happier to criticise classroom training as being incredibly boring. And yet here I am on the verge of delivering a two day intervention, compiled by myself. I have much riding on my performance, from the state of my ego, to my reputation, which is everything in a one man consulting business.

I wonder if I have taken too big a risk.

Nervously, I push myself through the facilitators guide for the last time, then head on over to my bed for the beauty sleep that is going to refresh and invigorate me. Instead I toss and turn all night. My plan to go for an early morning run is ditched as I try and make the last moments with my pillow count.

All too soon, I am in the training venue with the Learning & Development Specialist. I have an hour left to prepare and there are already a number of candidates in the room, furiously punishing their emails. I see the reference guides for the first time and they look awesome. Thankfully, I had enlisted the assistance of a graphic designer friend of mine and it has made all the difference.

Somewhere I summon up the facilitator ‘me’ and launch into my new role. Smiles and laughter erupt. I relax, and start to enjoy myself. Aki, who I described a couple of posts back, has a slot during the morning. He is a ball of energy and fun, and steals the show. By the time we sit for lunch, I hear a couple of the Learners already commending the training.

Two days fly by. Some of the creative methodologies which seemed way out there in the planning stage; really pull it all together. At its close, the course is rated highly, which is a huge relief. This is not just a rating of my performance but rather the team that pulled it all together both in the design and implementation.

I learn so much in this short time. I break a number of my own boundaries. I even start to look forward to the repeat of this intervention in a couple of weeks time.

Who would have known?

Lessons from the Pipe

It has been a while since I provided an update on my half pipe progress. The half pipe is in fine condition, having managing to outlast its first season of winter weather. The oldest kid has not managed to do as well!

My eight year old is able to drop in and do a magnificent top turn on the far side with front wheels and top half of the board completely above the rail. I really cannot wait to see him do that on a wave! After all, that is why we have this fine piece of apparatus in our garden.

I have found mastering the pipe a little more difficult. You see all of the ‘cool’ stuff like grinds on the rail, tap downs, lock ups, airs, all take place six foot above the ground at speeds of up to 40km/hour. It is most spectacular when you get it right, but get them wrong, and six feet is a long fall onto some rather unforgiving material.

I am ashamed to admit that I still cannot drop in, but I am working on it...

Yesterday the pipe beat me badly for the second time. I was on the last turn of my session when the wheels fell off. Well not literally! Somehow I managed to twist my ankle again, even while wearing an ankle guard, and land with my full weight on my hip at the bottom of the pipe.

My pain has forced me to look deep within and share some lessons from the pipe, which apply to both life and business:

1. Always remain 100% focussed, any loss of attention and you are on the floor. My brain wandered yesterday and I don’t even know how I fell.
2. Commit. Absolutely anything undertaken without full commitment is not worth doing and may not even be possible without everything you have. Wafting around on the pipe is an invitation for disaster.
3. Plan for failure but never entertain it. The thought entered my mind that I have a Judo grading tonight and I cannot afford to sprain my ankle. And I sprained my ankle!
4. Nothing brilliant comes without lots of effort and work. Don't stop trying, training, and reaching higher and further!

And if you are in the process of failing, make sure it is spectacular so that at least you and all those watching have something to talk about for weeks on end!