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The King of Fools
Trainers themselves fall into the same mindset as their supervisors at times. They want to run their training kingdom without interference from supervisors above or from influences outside. Many feel that their agency is self sufficient when it comes to training trainers.

If you limit training to what you have always done, how do you grow? If your training cadre is managed by an individual who does not like to be challenged, what type of trainers will he surround himself with? Another saying comes to mind, “Surround yourself with idiots and you become the King of Fools. Surround yourself with excellence and it will rub off on you.”

Some wish to be King so bad that they would prefer to be the King of Fools.

If, as a training supervisor, I do not allow my instructors to go out and be externally influenced, I will never have to worry about being questioned or told that we can be doing better or that what we have been doing may be wrong.

A true leader, however, would prefer to be told what goes on in the world so that he can make a sound decision as to his future progress and endeavors. Ultimately those we train benefit from a well-trained and -educated training staff.

Conflict and Courageous Conversations:

If all you ever do is what you have always done, you will never get more than what you already have. Few things anger me more than someone answering a “why” question with, “Because we’ve always done it this way.”

There is no learning or higher understanding gleaned from that response. If you are a person who offers that as an answer (or accepts that as an answer), you need to step back and rethink what you are doing in your position.

I know many trainers who are considered experts and are well respected across the nation in fields of use of force, firearms and defensive tactics (many of whom are authors for a host of respected publications, books, and columns here PoliceOne).

The little-known fact about all of these highly-respected trainers is that they are not (or were not) in good graces with their agencies. Not prophets in their own land! They were (or are being) run off. Certainly not being nurtured for their initiative, hard work, or willingness to create a high standard and then train others to that standard. Can you imagine?

You see, these are the men and women who were either never brought into training or were brought in and then removed. They are the individuals who either wanted to (or attempted to) propel training to the next level, change it up or think outside the box.

They are the ones who dared to ask the “why” questions and were not satisfied with the standard response. They continued to ask the “why” questions and were either removed for their insubordinate behavior or were ignored for so long that they finally tired and left of their own accord.