Popular Trainer Vs Effective trainer

Are you a popular Trainer?

As a trainer, for sure you want to be popular. You want participants to enjoy being in class, have fun and enjoy themselves as well as get real benefit from the training. A widely-held view is that an effective trainer must also be popular among participants. In fact, experience suggests otherwise. Not all effective trainers are popular trainers and vice versa.  

A popular trainer consciously or sub-consciously places an emphasis on developing and nurturing a friendly and warm relationship with participants from the first minute, with less concern for effective delivery. His/her predominant motivation is to be popular in class. In pursuing this goal, the trainer may readily agree to requests and demands of the class participants even if they are not in the best interest of the training process, excessive socializing with participants or accepting dysfunctional behavior. An effective trainer on the other hand has one prime concern which is the effective delivery of the training program and does not hesitate to risk his/her popularity if it interferes with his/her professional commitments and obligations even if it means taking some unpleasant actions or unpopular decision.

Either of these two approaches may seem equally plausible and attractive to you but experience suggests that the best trainers are the ones who are able to strike a mix of the two. You should attempt to be an effective trainer with an undertone of humaneness. While a popular friendly trainer, who is not equally effective, may find favour with participants during the class, but when they go back on the job, they would talk of an effective and competent trainer in far more complimentary words. Do not ignore the social component and emotional needs of participants but at the same time, make sure your actions and behavior are in the best interest of the learning process as well.