[Neurons] Training Mastery Series #6

[Colin Cox]

Secret Recipe with Herbs & Spices

Training Mastery Series #6 - By Colin Cox; NS Master Trainer


What's for Dinner


It's drawing near to the end of a long day. It's been one of those days
where there's been too much to do and too little time to do it in, and
there's still more to be done, and everything had to have been completed by
yesterday! 

 

The call from the kids comes at the allotted time - "What's for dinner?"
and, of course requires an instant answer. I'm not feeling up to cooking and
nor is Lena. With us both realising the need to still complete much over due
work the answer was found in a quick car trip down to grab a family sized
bucket of chicken and its accompanied trimmings from our local Kentucky
Fried Chicken (KFC).

 

Allowing myself time to day-dream while parked bumper to bumper behind a row
of cars bottle necked, each awaiting their turn to order at the KFC drive
through, my wandering thoughts took me to Colonel Sanders and his secret
recipe of 11 herbs & spices.

 

The Colonel was born in Henryville, Indiana back in 1890. He sold his first
piece of chicken in 1930 at a gas station owned in Kentucky. Harland Sanders
was not actually a colonel he received an honorary colonel bestowed upon him
in 1935 by Governor Ruby Laffoon for Harland's contribution to the local
cuisine. Harland liked the title so much he used it as a personal title for
marketing  his chicken along with a stereo-typical "southern gentleman's
attire" to further support the sale of his popular brand of pressure cooked
fried chicken. At the tender age of 65 he began to franchise his Kentucky
Fried Chicken restaurant along with his "secret recipe" of 11 herbs and
spices. The Colonel sold his KFC franchise in 1965 although remained a
spokes person for the corporate group until his death in 1980 at the age of
90.

 

What interested me most while awaiting my order at our local KFC was "What
did he put in that recipe that set him apart from all the other fried
chicken restaurants of his time?" The rumour goes that no one person knows
what specific combination of 11 herbs and spices are in the KFC recipe, and
no single factory makes all of the ingredients. Apparently if rumour is to
be believed there is a recipe in a secret vault kept at the KFC Corporate
Headquarters! Naturally my mind also wandered, although briefly to Coca-Cola
and Pepsi, each having their own secret recipe of syrups for their global
empires. 

 

As each car ambled forward in the cue my mind came back to the present. To
witness our meal being hauled through the car window and distributed to the
starving with shouts of "don't spill it, or get the food on the car seat!"
As we drove away to the lingering smell of those 11 herbs & spices
permeating throughout the car as we headed home.


It's Not About the Chicken!


What's my point? Where am I going with this? Who really cares what the
secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices are? Well, that is my point! It's the
small things and the combinations of these small things that make the
difference. It distinctively set the Colonels chicken apart from all other
fried chicken restaurants of his and our times.

What sets you apart from all the rest of those trainers out there? What is
the secret recipe that separates a trainer from a master trainer? They both
train and possibly deliver the "same" topic & content. Yet, what are the
magic ingredients that define one trainer from another? Now... that I want
to know! And that is what this series, and more specifically the next 2 of
this 21 part series is all about. 

 

The childhood saying I learnt so many years back went something like this...
"Sugar & spice and all things nice. That's what little girls are made of..."
The question that directs this article is "What are the ingredients
exceptional trainers made of?"

To find out read on...


Mix Them Together & What Do You Have?


If it was possible to place 5 specific ingredients into a trainer and know
that these 5 ingredients would comprise the higher frames of mind that would
set this trainer apart from the rest, what would they be? What frames of
mind or categories would you choose knowing that those components would
ensure your long-term success as a continuously developing trainer?

 

 In this, and the following article of this series, I will identify what I
believe are 5 critical frames of mind required to extend yourself as a
trainer, and send you beyond what you thought was possible to newer and
higher levels of excellence in training design and delivery. I personally
consider these 5 specific ingredients to be sought by many and found in but
a few. I hope that you will consider each of them - Not from the point of
view "Oh, I do that already..." or "I know this stuff, there's nothing new
here." but for you to consider - where are you not practicing each of these?
What do I need to do to further fulfil them and make them habitual
behaviours to the degree I become recognised as having them in abundance as
a trainer? 

 

In essence, I am doing in this and the following article, what KFC, Pepsi,
or Coca-Cola would never do. Sharing their trade secrets!

In no particular order the first 2 of the 5 ingredients are: 


Secret Ingredient 1 - Genuine:


This is about you being the "Real deal'. A good friend of mine has hosted
many top international key note speakers and trainers here in New Zealand.
What he was most surprised at, upon meeting some of them, was how they were
very different away from the lectern & seminar room. Although they spoke on
confidence and self-esteem before thousands, privately they were vastly
different themselves. They could teach communication and all its intricacies
yet communicate poorly when dealing with their own affairs. Run a workshop
on motivation and be lacking it themselves.

 

Being genuine as a trainer is about being congruent, authentic and sincere.
It's not about having to be perfect before you can go out & deliver
training. It's about being honest and sincere with who you are, and what
needs to change within you. 

 

It's not about being fake! Try walking into a room of prison inmates if
you're fake they'll quickly pick up on the fact that what you're saying and
who you are -are 2 different things. They've seen plenty of fakes and likely
to be professional cons themselves. So it's not hard for them to work out
how sincere you are or not as you're speaking.  An old favourite paraphrased
quote goes something like this - "What you're doing says so much about you I
can't hear what you're saying!"

 

So, where do you start if you want to be more genuine as a trainer? 

 

*	To be more congruent with your message. 
*	To be more authentic & sincere.

Start first on yourself! Apply what you teach to yourself. Yes, that's right
the message you share is not just for them but for you also! Tell the truth
when you're sharing stories of your life's experiences without embellishing
them. To say what you mean, and mean what you say will always set you apart
from the rest. We have a world of people who say one thing and do another.
All you have to do to be more and more genuine is for you to do what you say
and show you mean it both professionally and privately.

 

Would you be willing to continue to work on being more genuine and more
authentic? We are way short of having trainers and leaders on our planet who
are truly authentic in word & deed. It was Harold Greenen who said,
"Leadership is practiced not so much in words, as in attitude & actions".
Trainers who make their words their profession must demonstrate this byway
of their attitude and actions both in and out of the training room. 

 

Yes, we are a life's work in progress and no I am not saying perfection is
required, (nor have I achieved that!) as I have mentioned earlier. What I am
insisting on though is the sooner we progress to being more genuine and
authentic as trainers the better!  


 Secret Ingredient 2 - Acceptance:


Nobody else in this universe is like you. At best similar maybe, but not
exactly like you. Difference & diversity is around us constantly. The shear
uniqueness of nature along with the diversity of personalities, cultures and
religions is beamed into our homes via satellite and broad band internet
connections. Nobody thinks like you, understands like you, or learns like
you. The diversity found in a corporate setting and the training room is
constant and mind boggling! Do you accept diversity? Embrace diversity? Or
do you tolerate it and put up with it?

 

Acceptance is about embracing warmly with understanding the diversity within
those we teach, coach, mentor or lead as trainers. Are you a trainer who can
work with only one type of cross section of the community? Are you only able
to accept one type of person or culture?

 

Age, colour, race & religion can separate us yet this is not the way of
mastery as a trainer. Are you able to demonstrate acceptance of belief
systems that do not agree with your own? Varying dietary needs and much more
are only a few of the differences you will find in training rooms around the
world. Each learner I have met over the years was, at some cognitive &
emotional level wanting to know and be shown that I or you are accepting of
them as trainers. Will you accept them even though they don't have designer
labels on shoes to wear? Will you accept them with or without money, an
education, or if they find learning from you difficult and your accent hard
to understand?

 

There is much I have to say about acceptance and its place in the character
make-up of a trainer. So to be more succinct present I'll present a few
bulleted point headings below which I hope will challenge you to be more
accepting as trainer:

 

*	The room you're in - If it isn't perfect and you can't change it,
accept it!
*	You forgot to bring something important with you - If you can't get
it, accept it and improvise!
*	They (learners) don't like you - If you've done your best and
nothing works, accept them!
*	You're running late for the start of a training -  Forgive yourself
and accept it and get on with it!
*	Your training equipment breaks down - If it can't be fixed, accept
it and improvise!
*	People turn up late and you've already started - Warmly accept them
in!
*	You doubt yourself and your capability - Accept yourself for who you
are who you are not and do it anyway!
*	They didn't like you and you know you screwed up - Forgive yourself,
learn from it, accept it, and positively move on.


No Place for Tolerance


Tolerance is an unacceptable frame of mind to have as a trainer! To tolerate
the learner in your training room that is irritating you; to find yourself
putting up with how a particular learner interacts with the group or
differing beliefs they have. Tolerance of any kind will never allow the true
heights of learning to be reached. Acceptance is the door through which you
must pass, closing it firmly on past tolerance behaviours. Tolerance is like
a loose lid placed on a pot of quickly heating water soon about to boil
over. Tolerance will create increasing levels of stress & emotional strain
for both the learner and the training practitioner. Quickly kick tolerance
to the curb and embrace acceptance. 


Time to Apply


Although I know little about cooking and preparing those all important
ingredients for a meal, I do know you have to perform the "taste test" to
check if the combination of ingredients is just right.  At this stage, I
would like you to take the "taste test" on your ability to be genuine and
accepting as a trainer. Consider, what do you need to add in order to make
you a more improved and genuine trainer.

 

Each time I have done this for myself I've found the best place to start is
to become more accepting of myself. I'd like you to be more accepting of who
you are and who you are not as a trainer and what you wish to become in the
near future.  Self-acceptance is the key that unlocks the potential within
yourself, and over comes any past tolerating mindsets you may have had for
those you've trained. By being more accepting of yourself, and others, you
will grow more genuine and authentic as a trainer. This will also provide
you with the increasing ability for you to more powerfully & meaningfully
reach the minds and hearts of those you present to.

 

Well... there you have it, two of the 5 secret ingredients of exceptional
trainers. I'll present the other 3 secret ingredients of exceptional
trainers in series #7 of Training Mastery which will likely require another
infrequent trip to our local KFC! 

 

 

 


Colin Cox

 

Ignitionemailer


Director Ignition

NS Master Trainer (ISNS)

Executive Coach & Consultant (ACMC)

Conference Keynote Speaker


 

(      027 4774 560

"     www.ignition.org.nz

 

 

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