Recency of experience

This past week was the Experimental Aircraft Association Convention and Fly-In in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where I live. I have attended the EAA Convention each of the past 30 years, and it’s exciting to see people from all over the world come to explore their passion for aviation. The Oshkosh show is the largest event in the aviation world.

This year, my pilot friend Geoff Oswalt attended. Geoff is a corporate pilot for Johnson Controls. Over coffee on Saturday he told me he had just finished five days of school. “School? What are you going to school for? You’ve been doing this for 30 years,” I asked in my most “supportive” yet inquisitive tone. He told me they were changing the airplane he files from the Challenger to the Gulfstream G550, and he had to go back to school to relearn the Gulfstream. Geoff had flown the G5 before, but because it has been 6 years, he was required to go back to school and get his recency of flight experience.

Isn’t it comforting to know that pilots are required to maintain their experience and training? Similarly, doctors, lawyers and many other professions are required to have continuing education as part of their careers and licenses.

Sadly, this is not true in sales. There is no law requiring ongoing training.

In Search of Learning Agility was a multiyear study done by the TR Clark Company, and sponsored by the American Society of Training Development. The report is a comprehensive look at adult education and on-the-job competency.

According to In Search of Learning Agility, “There is no such thing as permanent competence or a fully developed skill set in either individuals or organizations.”

The world is changing way too fast for us to think that what we know now will be enough tomorrow.

Here are four things ongoing training will do for you:

1. Builds confidence. The more proficient and competent you become at something the more confidence you have in your ability.
2. Creates a better work environment. People who are invested in doing and becoming their best build on each other. This creates a team spirit, improves morale, and job satisfaction.
3. Boosts careers. By consistently learning you not only enhance your job security, you avail yourself to promotions, increases, and greater responsibility. All because you are constantly growing.
4. Provides personal satisfaction. For these reasons and many others, continually training in your field will make a major difference in your life. You will enjoy increased intellectual stimulation, satisfaction, and find greater reward in all that you do.

The great news is there is no shortage of resources to help you continually learn: Google, TedTalks, YouTube, and a great place to start, of course, is RAB.COM. If you are committed to personal growth, the resources you need to match how you learn best are available for you.

I’m sure the passengers on the G5 that Geoff will be flying to Tokyo next week will appreciate that he went back to school and spent a week in the classroom and the simulator to relearn how to fly the plane safely and effectively.

Your clients get better as you get better. What are you doing to get better this week?

Think Big…Make Big Things Happen!