Learning to tail-walk

Did you see that wonderful news story recently about a dolphin, released from captivity, who has been teaching other dolphins how to ‘tail-walk’..? Amazing...

Just as we see them doing in marine parks around the world, these wild dolphins are walking on their tails. There’s no obvious benefit to this learned behaviour – it certainly doesn’t help them catch their fish more easily – so may be they are thinking of trying to snatch a few seagulls, or more realistically may be they are purely having fun honing a new skill...

While the story is a sweet one – the thing it highlighted to me is just how powerfully one enthusiastic and skilled trainer can inspire others to new levels of performance. OK – I admit I'm biased but I like to use this story to illustrate how Be More Effective can help inspire our clients to do the human equivalent of tail-walking but with rather more tangible benefits.

Our learning approach is fun. Just like the dolphins, we get in amongst the participants on our training to demonstrate – to guide – to enthuse – rather than just sit at the front and lecture – learning by doing with authentic coaching is what helps people become more effective. Yes - we plan our training carefully, ensuring it fully meets our client’s needs. Of course we use a blended approach to make sure everyone taking part gets the full benefit. The magic though is when participants have the opportunity to practice what they have learned in an interactive, fun and relaxed work-related environment. The participants are the main focus of ‘doing’ - the spot light is on them.

I have to admit, though, while at Be More Effective we can help train people in many areas - sales, customer service, leading people, managing the business, personal management and change – we’ve never been asked to run any courses on tail-walking. But we’re up for anything and there’s always a first time..!

By-the-way - the clever dolphin who’s been training her friends is called Billie, who was released after only a few weeks in captivity in Australia, but who had been there for long enough to learn the skill and pass it on. If you’d like to see some wild dolphins tail-walking, check out this link: