How Many Times Do I Have to Tell You?

During a recent coaching session, a very successful Doctor client, told me about a teaching philosophy used in medical school.  “Watch one…do one…teach one”. (Let’s hope that surgical procedures involve more than one viewing before a new Dr. does one).

It’s pretty easy to understand the watch and do.  The hardest concept and the one most frequently missed in leading a business is the “teach one” part.

I will bet that you are like me.  We hurry through the teaching process with a belief that everyone learns the same way we do and at the same pace.  Have you had this thought?  “Why don’t they just understand what I am saying and do it the way I want?

As a Coach, I am always amazed at the unique ways that talented executives process information and learn.  There is a huge difference between experienced leaders and to homogenize everyone into a single expectation is amazingly shortsighted.  A lesson learned the hard way for me.

So the moral of the story is this………if you want to ensure that your lesson is communicated, learned, and sustainable: slow down with your explanation, watch for signals that they understand, watch and correct as they do it themselves, and most importantly… have them teach you how to do it.

A very powerful sequence that really works.  If you want to experiment with it on your own, try and teach one of your kids something new using this technique.  You will be amazed at the response and the result.  Then try it with your senior team.