Don’t Train, Unleash Potential

Don’t do to. Do for.

I’m not too fond of the word train unless it has something to do with dogs or monkeys. I like the word educate. Managers teach. Teachers educate. While you look to your manager for education, you should also look to make sure he brings his sawzall to work everyday. The imaginary sawzall represents his ability to understand your learning needs and his ability to cut away whatever is covering up your potential.

Very few managers invest themselves enough to understand your strengths and potential. If you have a manager who is reaching out to you, attempting to understand you and suggesting or providing learning resources, do not take his gestures lightly. Follow his guidance. And make note of his actions. You’ll want these characteristics in your next manager.

Think of progressing through managers this way. Your first car was a basic model that included a couple of options that you liked. When you went to buy your second car, you made sure it had these options and then looked to upgrade with other features and options.

In the future you might have to make trade-offs when choosing managers. But never trade-off the manager who has a history of reaching out to his technicians, the one who educates and the one who unleashes the potential of his students.