Teach Students or Train Staff

TEACH STUDENTS OR TRAIN STAFF

I have the joy of being a schoolteacher and a business trainer. I train managers on programs such as time management. What I find interesting is that staff needing these skills often have a clear trail of trouble in prioritizing work and missing deadlines. This trail, not only dates back a number of jobs, but also goes all the way back to their school days.

When a manager says, "I work best under pressure" or "I can only work with deadlines", I can see a student who worked hard only because their parents forced them to.  I can also see students who sat down to study only because the exam was not going to be postponed. Strangely as I have also taught students who "forget" their homework. Others were not able to finish their work because they took more time to do what interesting than what should have been done. In these students, I see "budding customers" for my business training.

I have just taken the case of goal setting and priorities, as an example. But I could give many more examples of students who undervalue the advice of their teachers and pay for it years later. May be all teachers should become trainers. That way, they will get a second chance to guide their former students in the business world. On the other hand, may be students need to take those teachers seriously and finish with time management training in school rather than wait for my very expensive business programs.

Allan Bukusi