In 2010, United States companies alone spent nearly $53 BILLION on employee training, which calculates to approximately $1,050 per employee (40.1 hours) spent on training employees to know more about their jobs. 29% of this $53 billion was allocated to sales training. Corporate sales forces attend workshops, ketodietposts and seminars and conferences on how to improve their effectiveness and yet, measurable improvement is short lived if seen at all. Why is this? No one will argue that it is imperative that employees receive adequate training in the skill sets that their position requires and on the standard operating procedures of the corporation in which they work; however, why do companies continue to pour their precious training dollars down a hole in an attempt to change behavior by teaching employees to KNOW more stuff? The fact of the matter is that sales people know how to sell – they KNOW exactly what they need to do to achieve record sales levels – they just don’t DO it. Customer service representatives KNOW how to deliver top-notch service to their clients – they just don’t DO it! The problem is not in the depth or breadth of knowledge in our country’s workforce, legalsolid but rather in the gap between what they know and what they actually DO.
What causes people to behave in ways that are contrary to what they know they should be doing? The answer to this question goes back to the conditioning we received when we were small children – the habits and the paradigms and self-image that were formed in each one of us walking this planet before we had,valorantis any conscious awareness whatsoever of what was happening to us. The answer lies in how our minds operate. Our mind is divided into the conscious and the subconscious. The conscious mind is our thinking mind, it’s where our intellect resides – it’s where all those corporate training programs dump all their information to make employees KNOW more about how to perform their jobs more effectively. It’s what traditional school systems are concerned with stuffing full of books and facts and figures. In our,gamerdidi conscious mind, we have the ability to create thought and to accept or reject any idea that is presented to us – whether that be from our own thoughts, a coworker, the nightly news – wherever.
Our subconscious mind is our emotional mind. It is a storage unit for all that has happened in our life. It stores our memories and our beliefs which consist of our emotional connections to the past, like a scrapbook containing all of our past experiences. What you feel, think, or do forms the basis of your experiences, basketoffers which are stored in the form of underlying impressions in the subconscious mind. This is why it is so difficult to release our old, self-destructive thoughts or defeating behaviors. Our subconscious mind is the warehouse for all of our habits and our paradigms – the things we do or the feelings that are evoked in certain situations without even thinking about them – like brushing our teeth or feeling apprehensive in an elevator.
It’s the subconscious mind that drives our body into action. It works nonstop, twenty-four hours a day behind the scenes, prompting our behavior. It is so automatic to us that we don’t even have time to notice it is happening. It does not really matter what we KNOW in our conscious mind – we can KNOW all, lastgain day long that we should have a salad for lunch, but when we get to the restaurant if we FEEL (in our subconscious mind) like having a cheeseburger, we will very likely have the cheeseburger!
So you see, traditional corporate development and training programs are concerned with stuffing our conscious mind with more knowledge. And we may really LIKE that knowledge and really, really WANT to apply it to our jobs and maybe even our life in general, so we may actually modify our behavior for a period of time, but without addressing the CAUSE of our behavior – which lies in our subconscious mind – there will never be permanent change. We perform at a level that is in alignment with our self image and our conditioning. Our self image is actually like a thermostat in our homes which is set at a certain temperature – if the room gets too hot, the air conditioner comes on until the room cools back down to the preset temperature. If someone accidentally leaves a window open and the room gets too cold, the furnace kicks on and warms the room back up to the preset temperature. In much the same way, our self image – that collection of habits and paradigms that make us who we are – keeps our performance at a preset level. Say I am a corporate sales position and I sell an average $100,000/month of product – sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less, but over the long term the average is $100K/mo. That sales figure is in alignment with my self image. Now, let’s say my sales manager sends me to a sales training that gives me all sorts of great information on generating new leads and negotiating contracts and such and I come back to work raring to go and I go out that month and sell $300,000 in contracts. I’m thrilled, my sales manager is ecstatic, but the next month my sales are only $50,000 – just like the air conditioner in my home – my self image kicks in and manipulates my behavior until I am right back at that average of $100,000 in sales per month. The sales training gave me great information, but it didn’t do ANYTHING to change my self image, so any change in my results will just be temporary at best.
Am I suggesting that corporate training programs are worthless? Hardly! What I AM emphatically screaming from the rooftops, however, is that for the practical training to have lasting impact, it is essential to train the subconscious mind as well as the conscious mind. There are very few corporate programs on the market that address this issue. I am, however, fortunate enough to be a certified facilitator of the most transformational personal and corporate development and growth program available.
Thinking Into Results.
Thinking Into Results combines over 50 years of research in the personal and professional development industry and over 20 years in corporate and merger acquisition law. Bob Proctor and Sandra Gallagher have teamed up to create the most powerful transformational program of its kind. The Thinking Into Results Program is an extremely effective program for individuals who are truly interested in personal and progressive growth. Likewise, it provides leaders the very best information available on how to draw the most out of their people, the leader’s biggest untapped resource. It teaches leaders and teams how to close the gap between knowing and doing and in the process create more meaningful and purpose-driven lives as they dramatically improve results, organizational culture and customer loyalty. Thinking Into Results is an extraordinary program that presents twelve logical, straightforward and practical lessons that ensure a thriving, success-driven culture that translates into an exceptional return on investment for any leader. Contact me today and let’s discover how to close your knowing-doing gap!!!