Many of us are making resolutions and goals for 2012. Is one of your new year’s aspirations to move from a Trainer role to Training Manager role? The rewards of training leadership are tremendous, but before taking your first leap toward this new path, make sure you’re doing so with your eyes wide open so your transition is all you’d hoped for.
To help determine if you’re ready, consider the following:
How much time will you be spending facilitating training in your manager role?
Many Trainers love the thrill of being “on”. They thrive when they are in the classroom, encouraging others, and sharing in the joy of “light bulb” moments. However, when you make the transition to a Training Manager role, your time in the classroom will be greatly reduced, enabling you to focus on building training strategies, processes, and plans. How will this reduced time in the classroom really make you feel?
What if you will only facilitate a few hours a month or even less? Will you still have ways to fuel your training fire? This reality was something I didn’t consider when I made the move into management and I quickly realized that I NEEDED to spend AT LEAST a day a month in the classroom. If I didn’t, I felt my creative fire was dimmer and I felt somewhat disconnected from the front line in which my team was trying to serve. Bottom line…I wasn’t as happy or engaged.
To help with this potential challenge, explore expectations about your time in the classroom before you accept the job to ensure it fits with your desires.
How will you deal with coaching trainers who have a different style than yours?
There are many roads that lead to the same end, and as a Training Manager you have to remember this. I’ve never seen two trainers with the exact same styles or skills sets and as a manager it’s your job to help them identify what’s working well for them so they can flourish. Know your trainers will NOT be just like you and that this diversity is AWESOME!
You’ll learn volumes by observing and coaching each person’s unique abilities!
“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already.” -- John Buchan
How do you feel about performance reviews and administrative reports?
Reports, reports, and more reports. As a Training Manager you will be writing A LOT! Whether it’s an annual review, a proposal for how to solve the lasted training need for your organization, monthly financial summaries, key training evaluation result reports for senior leadership, or reports about how you’ve resolved the latest training crisis, your writing skills will need to be primed and ready to rock!
Hate writing reports? Think again about Training Management as this will be one of your key responsibilities.
“The price of greatness is responsibility.” -- Winston Churchill
A new title might be a great goal for you in 2012. Just make sure you do your homework, ask a lot of questions and learn, learn, learn!
Have you read a good leadership book lately? If not, start here. One of my favorite reads from last year was The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma. The big leadership lesson I learned from this book was this: If you aren’t a great leader of yourself, you cannot be a great leader of others. Check it out and best wishes in your new year pursuits!
