Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Which are you, the wedding or the marriage?

We spend all this time, money and energy as a society on the day we will celebrate the declaration two people make to the world-We are married! All this time and energy for about 6 hours of time. The EVENT.

But what is really needed to ensure success for the marriage in the long-term? Is it the wedding or the coaching, growth, mentoring, learning, that we do as a team during the marriage?

My point is that in corporations training is often treated like the wedding- a big event that will cause all the changes and results we want. I am amazed at how many don't stop to think, how to keep the momentum going, how to coach and how to ensure it links in to their corporate culture.

Remember that a marriage is not made by a wedding. It is made by two people being committed to making it work. Two people who continue to grow, learn, and develop with each other.

A marriage that is based solely on the wedding soon dies as the day is forgotten, the festivities now seem stale and life is not as you expected. But when the wedding is treated as a START to a continued and committed journey it is truly a miraculous event that triggers all new happenings in your life.

So ask yourself, which way do I treat training? As an event I do, then tuck the dress away to be forgotten? Or as a lasting legacy that I nuture and grow each day.

Anne Warfield, www.impressionmanagement.com