Giving up in order to succeed?

Reading news that Jenson Button paid his own travel expenses this year came as a bit of a surprise. It made me think about his reaction to the possibility of redundancy last winter and the sacrifices (compromises?) he made to support the team and become World Champion. How can this help us as brain friendly trainers?

As many of you know, he was crowned World Champion in Brazil last weekend after 10 years as an F1 driver. His career to that point had been one of disappointment and under-achievement.

His year has been well documented:

• In December last year his team, owned by Honda, was closed down suddenly and without warning as a result of the credit crunch and global recession.
• All other positions with top teams had been taken – he was faced with the option of being made redundant.
• A management buyout of the team was arranged at the last minute and the team was renamed Brawn GP.
• He decided to stay and supported the team by taking a 70% pay cut – and it turns out he also agreed to pay his own travel expenses
• He went on to win the World Championship, winning 6 races along the way.

As trainers involved in brain friendly learning, how often do we take the easy route and rest on our achievements?

It would have been easy and understandable for Button to take a years sabbatical, he is financially secure and knew that there would be 8 new drivers needed the following year as four new teams entered Formula One.

He could have stood on his pride and held out to be paid his market value – it is reported that other drivers earned more than twice his pre-cut salary.

He could have used the opportunity of redundancy to walk away from what was probably going to be another year of frustrating lack of performance.

But he didn’t…

He decided to stay and support the team by sacrificing personal benefit for the short term needs of the team. To everyones surprise (not least the big teams of Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW et al) Brawn GP and Jenson Button won both the constructor and driver World Championships!

One of the things that sets great trainers apart from the crowd is their willingness to place their learners needs ahead of their own, sometimes at personal cost.

• It’s about doing whatever it takes to achieve the learning outcomes
• It’s about the learner learning, not the trainer training
• It’s about the 70-30 principle
• It’s about the learner creating knowledge, not the trainer delivering information

What are you willing to put at risk so that your learners can benefit?

What are you going to give up (sacrifice) for the benefit of your team?

How can you lead by example to help others through a challenging time that you all face together?

Jenson Button image by Mike_Foster
Tropical beach image by cosmo-girl

Paul and Ally are working on an exciting 6-part (online) course to help your learners fully engage with your training - sign up for the 'early bird' list for advanced notification and more info

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