I was delivering a management development course recently when a delegate pointed out that they didn’t realise how much they didn’t know.  We were discussing conflict and how and why people get wound up, what causes it and how it could be an automated response created from a habit.

The delegate in question said to me they had gone through years of getting angry and frustrated with staff who didn’t think or work as they do.  They said they had gone out their way to hunt people down in the workplace who didn’t think like them.  They were very honest and identified how this type of behaviour could cause more issues in the workplace.   Of course, this type of honesty is essential for making real changes in our behaviour.

The delegate was correct of course. Unfortunately, we are all ignorant; we don’t know what we don’t know.  Education is a valuable key; it can change the way we think and see things.  It changes the way we act and ultimately how others behave too.

Many managers end up in management jobs because they are good at their job, not because they are good managers.  They may not know or understand the skills to manage well.  A classic example of this is delegation; most managers don’t understand delegation, why we use it and how to do effectively.  They don’t understand the real reason we delegate work. They don’t know how to give feedback effectively; yes, many managers are ignorant.

Many trainers have never been trained to train correctly, they read PowerPoint slides out, they don’t engage using effective reasoning skills; yes, many trainers are ignorant.

Many coaches don’t understand what coaching is; they get mixed up between coaching, mentoring and training; yes, many coaches are ignorant.

Of course, we are all ignorant.  Spend some time today looking for an opportunity to learn something.  You will be amazed at how your life will change if you decide you are ignorant you will be pleased because knowing this makes us want to learn.

Ralph Moody is the founder of Target Training and specialises in trainer and management development.  You can read more about him here.  To see courses where Ralph delivers see our website here.