Preparation:

The Key to T3 Success

ASTD’s Ultimate Train the Trainer

By Elaine Biech
(ASTD Press, 304 pp., $139.95 [ASTD member price, $99.95])

Reviewed by Paul Flynn

There are some books that are good to have on the shelf simply for their utility and the time they might save you. Elaine Biech’s ASTD’s Ultimate Train the Trainer may well be one of those books. But that’s only if you think you’re going to have to, you know, train a trainer. This is not one you read for its exciting plot and rich characters. It’s a workhorse, and it brings a whole array of useful tips, tools, and resources—the kind of stuff that can help you ramp up quickly to a T3 challenge.

Biech has a strong background in this realm. President of ebb associates, an organizational development firm, she’s written and presented on learning and training themes in a variety of settings for a number of years. Her passion for training, which she calls the ultimate profession, is evident from page one.

Perhaps the strongest trait of this book is that it encourages you and helps you to prepare thoroughly. Every young instructor starting out knows that it’s one thing to know learning theory and quite another thing to know how the heck to set up and conduct a session in which learners will find value. When your learners are trainers themselves, well, talk about a challenge! This is one instance where you simply don’t go into a session without thorough preparation.

To that end, Biech walks us through simple yet important considerations like room preparation (right down to the furniture construction) participant and client preparations, and, finally, how to prepare yourself. The book assumes a three-day session with five modules, so there’s a lot to prepare.

ASTD’s Ultimate Train the Trainer is built around the ADDIE model (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate), and its tips and structures come back to the model as to a touchstone. That consistent presence makes the book and the process of T3 reassuring and familiar for anyone with instructional systems design experience.

Many years after graduation, I still occasionally wake up in the night with the sudden fear that I have a major paper due and I haven’t started the research. It’s funny in the daylight hours, but, for that split second in the dead of night, it’s terrifying!

This would never happen if I had a book like Biech’s to help me organize and plan my paper. She has checklists and processes and tells you what you need to do the day you learn you’re going to be giving a T3. What do you do three weeks before the session? One week? One day? One minute? Follow her guide, and you’ll know.

And get this: not only does she give you the overall structure for the session in five modules; she even provides you with the PowerPoint slides you’ll need! There’s a wealth of useful handouts and evaluation sheets and trainer’s guides on the accompanying CD. She even gives you a template for certificates. How cool is that?

There is one thing that’s kind of nagging at me though. I wonder if a book about training the trainer is a little bit like a book about typewriter repair or how to adjust your carburetor. I don’t mean to suggest that live training will go away, but there sure is a strong trend in our industry to deliver training in new ways—pull instead of push training—learning on demand.

Electronic facilitation has become a must-have skill in any trainer’s bag of tricks, and there really wasn’t any mention of these things in ASTD’s Ultimate Train the Trainer. I’m not sure I know exactly how it should have fit into a book like this, and maybe it shouldn’t. Perhaps the sub-title should read “A Complete Guide to Live Training Success.”

Oh well, don’t let my nagging thoughts dissuade you. If you have to train a trainer, get the book. You’ll be glad you did.

Paul Flynn a learning and performance improvement consultant in Almont, Michigan; paul.flynn@gmail.com

How Did That Happen:

Holding People Accountable for Results
the Positive, Principled Way

Roger Connors and Tom Smith

(The Penguin Group Inc., 252 pp., $26.95)

The third book in Connors’ and Smith’s “accountability trilogy,” How Did That Happen makes a timely appearance as the global economy suffers from a lack of accountability from businesses, government, and financial leaders. The authors’ first book, The Oz Principle, focused on the importance of people taking accountability for results, and their second, Journey to the Emerald City, shared how an organization can create a culture of accountability. This book examines how to hold people accountable for results.

The book unfolds the concept of an accountability sequence, or a set of simple steps by which to hold others accountable in a positive, principled way. The discussion begins with how to form, communicate, align, and inspect one’s own accountability expectations. The second half of the book takes the authors’ classic model of how to communicate expectations one step further, teaching readers how to engage in accountability conversations to determine the best way to deal with unmet expectations in order to conquer all damaging behaviors that plague many organizations today.

Ann Pace

Managing

By Henry Mintzberg

(Berret-Koehler Publishers, 306 pp., $26.95)

There is nothing cutesy about the Montreal-based academic’s latest title on the subject of management. With its austere, purpureal jacket design and utilitarian title, this book brings fresh, compact insight into the mosaic of what makes a manager, and what components differentiate the best managers from the rest.

Here is one read where you do not want to skip the intro. Mintzberg provides a nice roadmap for getting the most out of the book, regardless of where you are in your career or studies. There is something for everyone. Despite Mitzberg’s professorial rep, his writing style is always colorful, adventurous, and relaxed—a welcome spritz onto subject matter that in general, tends to arrive dry.

Each of the book’s six chapters offers its own unique lens into managing. “The Inescapable Conundrums of Managing” will have heads of people-managers everywhere nodding in agreement. “Managing Effectively” is a chunk of what might well be required reading for the student, the prospective manager, and even the C-suiter. This speaks to the real strength of this book—a big voice, offering up a little something for everyone.

Juana Llorens

The Introverted Leader:

Building on Your Quiet Strength

By Jennifer B. Kahnweiler

(Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 144 pp., $19.95)

When one thinks of an outstanding executive, introversion might not be the first quality that comes to mind. But in this accessible book, Kahnweiler, an Atlanta-based executive coach and corporate speaker, uncovers key information for both introverts and those who work with them. Based on data collected from a national workplace survey and hundreds of personal interviews, the author demonstrates how to tackle many of the challenges introverts face in the workplace such as underselling themselves or not sharing their ideas.

Kahnweiler presents the “4 P’s” for introverted professionals: preparation (devising a game plan), presence (focusing on the moment), push (stretching and growing), and practice (rehearsing and refining new skills). She also provides direct applications for these skills in introvert problem areas such as managing superiors, or leading projects or meetings.

Written in a clear, anecdote-laden style, the book covers several helpful topics such as the five unique strengths of introverted leaders; how social networking is an introvert’s best friend; how to deal with people exhaustion at work; why introverts avoid office politics; and handling “situational introversion.” This practical guide is a must-read for all individuals seeking to improve their people skills, whether to better understand themselves or others.

Aparna Nancherla