Training Industry Magazine - November/December 2017 - 15

BUILDING LEADERS
SAM SHRIVER & MARSHALL GOLDSMITH

TRAINING
IS WHO WE ARE
If you ask Hall of Fame caliber coaches
in competitive collegiate athletics to
reveal the secret of their success, literally
all of them will respond by saying one
thing: "Talent!" No matter how much
coaching-related
knowledge
you
have accumulated - or skill you have
developed - it is impossible to win
games against quality opponents on a
consistent basis without talent.
If you ask elite teenage athletes why they
opted to accept a scholarship from one
university over all the others they could
have chosen, their answers consistently
sound something like this: "It was
obviously a very difficult decision, but
at the end of the day, I feel my choice
provides me with the best possible
chance to reach my full potential."
If you dig a little deeper in these
situations, you understandably find
out that "reaching my full potential"
translates more to athletic advancement
than it does to academic excellence. It is
also largely a function of the track record
the coach and the university in question
has established for winning national
championships and developing players
of distinction.
With all of that in mind, it's probably no
surprise whatsoever that year after year,
the football program at the University
of Alabama (UA) and the women's
basketball program at the University
of Connecticut (UConn) consistently
welcome elite recruiting classes. To the
contrary, it would be an anomaly of

sorts if they didn't. What does any of
that have to do with the business
of training? In a word, we would
suggest, everything!
While most organizations across
industries place some degree of
legitimate value on training, there are a
few that have found a way to leverage
their training function as a genuine
source of competitive advantage. If
you qualify as a potential recruit with
these organizations and are lucky
enough to land a job, you will be
thoroughly and intentionally tested.
Goals will be set for you that will demand
a level of short-term effort that renders
work-life balance akin to "mission
impossible." You will stay up late and get

TRAINING ISN'T
SOMETHING TRAINING
PROFESSIONALS DO -
IT IS WHO THEY ARE.
up early. You will experience incremental
success and unavoidable frustration.
You will periodically question if you
have what it takes, and you will
somehow persevere fueled by an inner
strength you never consciously realized
you possessed.
You will be guided on your learning path
by credentialed training professionals
who are the equivalent of the strength,
conditioning and position coaches at UA
and UConn. They will unapologetically

ask for more when you have given
everything you thought you had to give.
Those trainers and coaches will also
somehow magically appear when you
find self-doubt creeping in to assure
you that you never would have been
hired in the first place if you didn't
possess the potential to make your
dream a reality.
These companies (big and small; for
profit and nonprofit) measure success
by whatever is the business equivalent
of winning national championships.
Championships and the consistent
display of excellence in every imaginable
way is not only their focus, it is their
collective passion.
In that regard, they view training as the
fulcrum around which their competitive
advantage revolves. It is inextricably
tied to their ability to "stay out in
front." Training isn't something they
do; training, quite simply, is who they
are. And while the organizations they
compete with typically invest significant
dollars and resources measuring the
return of investment of one program
or another, these organizations tend
to measure the effectiveness of their
training function by the achievement
of their strategic objectives, and
little else.
Marshall Goldsmith is the world authority
in helping successful leaders get even better.
Sam Shriver is the senior vice president
of commercial operations and product
development at The Center for Leadership
Studies. Email Marshall and Sam.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - BUSINESS OF LEARNING 20 1 7 I WWW. T RAI NINGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - November/December 2017
