Micro-Lessons to Maximize Results

A few years back, I was privileged to work for an organization that believed in developing people. And, over the course of my years there I had the opportunity to attend quite a few development and training sessions. One of them in particular stands out. It was an offsite multiple day training course on "leadership." It turned out to be more of a course on "management" but neither the instructor nor anyone else (including me at the time) really understood the difference.

I still have the binder with the materials although I never opened nor referred back to it again once I left the seminar. While most of the trainings I had the opportunity to attend were helpful, this one was.....well, not helpful. In fact, it was pretty terrible.

To begin with, the instructor didn't understand the important of sharing stories to help make the key points real and relevant. And, while I'm sure they delivered a lot of information it was delivered in such a monotone I struggled to stay awake the entire time. It was boring. And worse, I felt like it was a waste of time. I didn't learn anything and I remember wishing the instructor would just stop talking 5 minutes early so we could all go home.

Even if the topic is interesting and the material is delivered in a great way with real examples, stories, and concepts you can relate to, eight hours is just entirely too long to sit there and try to absorb it all. The brain simply shuts down toward the end of the day because it's too much to process. And in self-defense, your brain simply stops accepting the bombardment of information.

To understand why, keep in mind that the brain uses calories and energy to think. In fact, your brain consumes a large portion of the calories you consume every day. Have you ever been really hungry - maybe you skipped lunch - and found it almost impossible to think? Ever experienced the "brain fog" when trying to restrict calories or diet? It's a real thing - the brain needs energy to function and from a biological standpoint, your brain considers thinking "Work." And, our brains - just like our physical muscles - get tired after "working" all day.

Most people learn best in small, regular and frequent doses of information.

Over my many years of elective trainings, dozens of development seminars, LOTs of conferences, three college degrees and many thousand hours of "learning," one thing I've learned is most people learn best in small, regular and frequent doses of information. This allows them to absorb the concept and ideally gives them a chance to apply it before the next piece of information comes along. Because just hearing a concept or principle doesn't mean you have truly learned it. You must apply it to have full knowledge of a concept. For example, I could tell you all day how to stand up, but until you actually do it, you didn't really "know" how.

That's why Mack and I recommend leadership development training sessions stay within a 2-4 hour range. And, we recommend following up those training sessions with weekly (or even daily!) short micro-lessons to reinforce the concepts, allow time for application, and reflection. This is where wisdom grows - knowledge alone is not helpful until it's applied.

Results don't happen in one day. They happen every day.

So, absolutely go to that conference, training session, or seminar. Those opportunities are a catalyst for growth and can ignite interest, inspire, and motivate. But remember, when it comes to leadership development, character development, and personal growth, the power of change is in absorbing concepts in small frequent lessons over time. Micro-lessons help you maximize results.

If you are looking to take your leadership development to the next level, get started today with our FREE 2-hour online leadership development course "The 5 Types of Leaders." Consisting of short 15-minute videos with an accompanying fill-in-the-blank workbook, this course allows you to learn more about the different types of leaders, what makes them different, and how you'll benefit from learning how to intentionally become the type of leader you would want to follow.

And, keep climbing!