I was running a small private event using Insights Deeper Discovery recently and delighted with the group I was working with. All people were keen to develop themselves, all people were self employed, and all people had chosen to invest in their own development. For people who are self employed the cost of the day has a double hit – there is the cost of the event plus the opportunity cost of their time – they could be earning a fee elsewhere.
The colourful mat you see in this picture is the one I use, but sadly on this occasion not in such a scenic setting! It was a British winter with snow outside, but thought this looked rather better.
I am seeing a trend with the high performing people I work with – they invest in their future. Both in time and in their preparedness to pay for development.
Now take a different event that I was running yesterday, in Worcestershire, England, using Insights Discovery. Again people were prepared to invest in their future development and a delightful and useful time was had by all.
I have however had a very different type of feedback from many of the Insights Licensed Practitioners who fall under my wing as Mentor. They are experiencing businesses who are not currently investing in their people’s development.
I do find this odd, in a world that is changing and updating so fast, not to keep our learning fresh. One of my suppliers, with whom I spend a fairly large amount of money each year, pleads poverty. For a recent programme I was running they did not seem interested in finding a very small sum of money for one the team to experience what I do. His people are keen but also do not spend the money themselves.
Interestingly, this is in stark contrast to someone who I greatly admire. A young lady who is at the start of her career, and probably not on an enormous salary, came along to one of my programmes and paid for herself. I said I was very impressed with her enthusiasm and asked what had inspired her. I must admit I was was positively delighted by her answer, which went something along the lines of: “I have heard what you do is brilliant, I value my career and want to invest in my future.” Wow, what an answer!
I was amazed – she was taking control of her own development and acting in a very adult way. This is so unlike many employees who have a more of a child:parent relationship with their employer. They see their employer as responsible for their development. At what point do people take matters into their own hands and act in an adult way? If they are getting little development then sooner, rather than later, they will be suited to a world that no longer exists.
I’ll leave you to think on that.
I raised some eyebrows when I wrote an article about most managers spending more on their daily coffee that they invest in their own development. But that is something I will revisit on another day. By the way, after some more research I discovered this statement was wrong – they spend far more on their coffee than their own development.
So are you investing in your future or waiting for a parent like employer? A coffee or your future….
You have choices – you also have my contact details if you are looking to your future.
My best wishes,
Peter
