Are You a Serial Student?

Most business training is a waste of time- almost!

It won’t appear that way for the most part but after you have gone through the various lectures, seminars, workshops, E-zenes, webinars, teleseminars, books, and more, you will start to recognize a disconnect between what you think you want to achieve and what you have achieved.

If you are not careful, you will become a serial student. I have childhood friend who has been “doing architecture” for about 20 years. I am not sure what level he has reached but I don’t know a building that has benefited from his design capabilities and he has done many courses. He is more in love with the idea of doing it than actually being an architect.

In the quest to be a business person you have to make that decision too. Do I want to succeed or do I want to learn, is a question that has to be addressed. I know many persons who have Masters and Doctorates in business and cannot run a small business. Now, there are few things that bring more admiration and respect than to be known to have a PhD, or legal / accounting expertise at the highest levels. Yet oftentimes these people, by themselves, cannot run a business. So what’s going on?

A business person must take efforts to improve the business’ prospects. But let us consider an MBA graduate who has, with the influence of past business school lecturers or policies, got on the subscription listing for all major business publications and new books, especially those of famous authors. The person reads and self-educates but is at sea when it comes to running a business.

This is one of life’s dilemmas. But time does not allow for us to try solving that problem. How do you make it your mission to help people who don’t, at times, see that they need help? What kind of help do they need? If, according to the Harvard Business Review, 60% of business failures are “people problems” then where should the training emphasis be?

One way is to seek assistance in getting clarity. A business coach like me can be of tremendous help in this regard. It is also, the cheapest way to get business assistance, foregoing the publications and courses that you will pay for but not use most times. Don’t get me wrong reading, courses and general upgrading is important. It is after you have had clarity in the strategy that you are ready to apply concepts. You can read concepts and generally educate yourself, yes. However, most of us are not that type of reader. You may find that you attend classes and you read and you accumulate but never use nor apply.

At that point you are no more than a serial student.