5 Reasons to Never Train Alone

[featured_image]This week I’m training pastors near Portland, Oregon. Next week I’ll be training in Southern California, followed by training in Colorado Springs and then in Little Rock. I love training! I feel like I am so alive in a training environment.

One of the best things I’ve learned about training is this: NEVER TRAIN ALONE!

This became a good idea to consider this past September when I had scheduled a training event with a colleague and for reasons beyond my control, he could not be there. So I determined to do the event solo. I was quite familiar with the training materials and had delivered the training numerous times. I had also done the event as the solo trainer in the past so I realized I was capable of handling it on my own. However, at the end of each day I found myself drained of energy. I’m not opposed to working hard and being “on” all day. I thrive on accomplishing more. Yet as I headed to the airport I knew that the quality of the training experience would have been much better if I had a co-trainer.

5 Reasons to Never Train Alone

1. Share the Load – This is obvious.

2. Reproduce Yourself – You can multiply your impact if you reproduce yourself. Training other trainers will also create a pool of trainers who can train at times or in places you cannot. A commitment to never train alone will keep you focused on reproducing yourself.

3. Iron Sharpens Iron – Training with others will allow you to focus on the development of others and will keep you sharp. Having a co-trainer along will give you necessary feedback to help you grow as a trainer. Of course this goes both ways.

4. Differing Perspectives – I know I’m attached to my own ideas and perspectives and think that everyone needs to hear what I have to say. However, when I train with someone else, I am also so grateful for the numerous ways that God speaks through them and their perspective.

5. Avoid Catastrophe – Several years ago, our Men’s Retreat had to leave before he even spoke the first night. He handed me his notes as he hopped in a car and was driven to the airport to head home. I had to fill in for him at the last minute and was ill prepared for the task. This week, I’ve been sick since Sunday and am so grateful for my co-trainer Dan Riemenschneider who has pinch hit for me by covering some of my training sessions. When you have a co-trainer along, you avoid events being cancelled or asking someone to step in and read your notes.