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Business Times Column

by Marcus

Are You Stretching Your Team’s Potential?

Human potential is an expandable resource. However, it becomes static when it doesn’t receive the stimulation it needs to grow and expand, thus the terms, “I’m in a rut” and “I’m stuck”. Reflect on a time when you got out of a rut or got yourself unstuck, and you will see that this happened because you learned or were exposed to something new and took actions that challenged you, expanded your capabilities, and stretched your potential.

Owners, team members and companies get in ruts too. The way out of this stagnant state is through continual and ongoing trainings that increase the potential of everyone on the team. When learning and growth become the cultural norm of any business, the company as a whole is able to stretch its potential. This equates to improved customer satisfaction, steady growth and increased revenue.

Trainings – if done at all – are often sporadic, inconsistent and lack vital follow-up and follow-through. The process of learning new skills, implementing new knowledge and creating new habits that increase efficiency and effectiveness takes time and requires repetition. In other words, for any training to be effective, it must be done regularly and delivered by a competent professional to participants who are willing to learn.

To clearly illustrate this, consider any sports team. Training and practice are the norm, not the exception. The ones that reach the greatest levels of success have the best coaches and trainers and the work they do with the team is consistent and high quality. Their pursuit is one of excellence and everything they do, day-in and day-out, is designed and executed with the sole intention of bringing out the very best in each player, and the team as a whole.

Why would you run your business any other way? The ultimate success of any team or company depends on this highly effective approach of training and coaching. When you research the greatest companies you find a solid business model that includes consistent, ongoing and effective training as a key component in their exceptional success. This fact is often ignored and denied, but it is not a wise choice. After all, when a successful model has been built, all you have to do is follow it and success will be yours.

Powerful and effective trainings infuse your company with new information, strategies and energy. When talented and motivated team members are stimulated through trainings, and their growth and development are supported along the way, they rise to new heights in efficiency and effectiveness. This sustained internal effort will elevate your company, and the return on your investment will be huge.

Quality trainings will also help you identify team members that are not motivated, don’t want to learn and grow, and that are obstacles to the success the company is working to achieve. Once these people are identified further work can be done with them at a 1-on-1 level to help them become a powerful asset. If it is determined that this is not going to happen, then letting these individuals go is the best option. By doing so, you position your company to hire up and bring on potential superstars that will become valuable additions to the team.

In the trainings I do regularly with the companies I coach and consult, people come alive with excitement, motivation, clarity and direction. Those who desire to learn and grow standout: they listen intently, ask questions and reach for even more with open eyes and receptive minds. These same attendees request even more training on the same topics or other ones where they desire to improve. The reality is that most people have a strong desire to learn and, when given the opportunity and their learning is supported in an ongoing and consistent way, they will.

While providing trainings that solely enhance the technical skills of your team are great, it is the trainings that teach your people how to manage their minds as well that are far more effective and long-lived. Remember, people are at the very core of every successful company, and it is the strength of their mindset that allows them to operate at the highest levels. If you truly desire to grow and stretch the potential of yourself and your team, the trainings you offer must be engaging, challenging and empowering to the mind – the very thought process – of those who are in attendance.

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This article was written for and published in collaboration with The Business Times newspaper.

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Marcus Straub

Author Marcus Straub

Marcus Straub is Founder and CEO of Life Is Great!™ (LIG) Coaching and Consulting, Inc. based in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Serving individuals of all ages and companies of all sizes, in locations across the country and around the world, Marcus specializes in the development of customized programs tailored to meet the unique goals of each individual client. Purposefully created to guide those involved toward unprecedented personal, professional, and organizational growth, Marcus has become well-known for his straightforward approach and systematic techniques.

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