Equipping Others: A Leadership Call to Expand Kingdom Capacityნიმუში

Training that Sticks

Leaders enable training because there is a need for constant growth. New environmental realities, new job designs, and new organizational designs, among others, all demand constant training. However, not all training sticks with the trainees. Not everyone will remember and apply effectively what was presented to them in training. Mainly because there are many factors involved in the process of effectively incorporating learning, such as the context, the content, the usability, and the commitment to apply it in realistic terms. Although there are many other ingredients worth exploring about how to make a training stick, here are at least two from the Bible that can help:

1. The willingness of the trainee to learn: There must be teachability on the side of the trainee. You cannot teach someone who is not open to learning. There is a saying that states, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears”. There is a biblical invitation to "Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.” (Proverbs 4:13, NIV)
2. The intentionality of the trainer to equip others: The selfless intention to engage in intergenerational transfer is key to equipping others and enabling them with the needed capacities to succeed. In 2 Timothy 2:2, the Apostle Paul thrusts his disciple Timothy with this, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”

Training doesn’t happen by chance; it is an intentional, sustained, multi-generational, and long-lasting effort. When both the heart to learn and the intent to equip are present, training becomes transformation.

For reflection: Am I holding on to instruction in a way that truly shapes how I live and lead?