Ajit Kamath Wizzes

It's hilarious: One Trainer claims that he is India's No. 1 Train the Trainer. I really don't know who is the Certifying body and what's the basis of this claim but nevertheless the claim is part of the signature line. Another claims to be Mumbai 1st Trainer in a particular Technique. Till recently he claimed to the only one certified in that technique. A Intl. Training Co. Franchisee claims to be the Global Top Training Co. They are a listed Co. in US and their financial statement showed that they were a loss making company until a few years back (whereas the claim started about 7 to 8 years ago). Is this required? And why do we need this? Can't our work speak for ourselves through our clients? Do we think that Client HR is soooo damn stupid that they aren't going to ask us for the rationale on our claim. BTW, are they asking?

A year ago, my very dear Trainer friend Bhupesh Dave (a Magician too!) sponsored my ticket to a very vibrant session of Deepak Chopra at Shanmukhanand Hall, Mumbai. After the session, 4 of us Trainers (myself, Bhupesh, Sachin Kamath & Rajesh Tagore had an interesting conversation. Our observation was that Deepak Chopra in his 3 hour session, in his examples / andedotes / explanations dropped names of some important people like Dalai Lama etc.and surprisingly also of Trainers/Speakers. He also referenced books & articles of fellow trainers/speakers (who probably could be considered his competitors). Now cut to sessions by an Indian Trainer / Speaker. It's always about ourselves and when we do talk about other Trainers / Speakers, it would be more of Western Trainers/ Speakers/Authors whom either we have/haven't met or the audience may never have met. Rarely have I seen any Trainer mentioning about him/her having learnt from a colleague Trainer/Speaker from India itself. ...

I was recently invited by an Association to do a session for them. When I explored about fees, they told me that theirs was a charitable organisation. What does this mean? Don't these organisations pay for any services? What about their Auditors, Accountants and Staff. Y0u could be part of an organisation that does social service for the community. That's great!!! I am also a part of such organisations but that's my choice. How can your charity be my charity???? And when will you start valuing "Speakers" and the time they invest? Doctors charge, Lawyers & Accountants too, cos that's their profession. But Speakers aren't supposed to ... doesn't it sound strange. Even the Toast Master's expects a Speaker/Trainer to do a session for them gratis. Toast Masters being the flag bearers should understand that they can bring "value" to the profession. We had started a Speakers Club in Mumbai, India about 4 years back and every "Speaker...

It's really really funny. I know of Training Companies whose Trainers are made to claim (who dares ask for proof from the Trainers?) on the floor that their training interventions reduced attrition in client companies, but when it comes to their own Trainers they haven't been able to reduce attrition at all. Many Trainers are leaving sooo soon and that too "hurt" . One of the reason is that most Training Companies (my previous experience and of my network of trainers experiences tell me) don't have any HR processes at all. The Owners / Franchisees run Training Companies like "lalas" with autocratic form of leadership. They don't even let their teams know how much business they do. These are the same guys who 'teach' client participants that other styles of leadership should be used. Another reason is payments of dues... I remember a hilarious incident.... I and the Training Co's BD Manager, were observers to a training program being deli...

In L&T, for a particular division in Mumbai, I coach small teams in delivering an effective presentation internally to their organisation's seniors. At times the coaching is to Supervisors who have to deliver a session to their newly promoted Supervisors. Recently it was for a competition. The fun of coaching such teams is that I'm working with practical application of the learning. In training workshops, the skills are surely enhanced but chances are many of these participants may not get an opportunity to present for the next many months. Presentation Skills / Public Speaking isn't like cycling or swimming.... once learnt, learnt for life. With these skills if you loose out on applying it regularly (at least once a week) the 'enhancement' starts coming back to the original position. If organisations, do not provide opportunities to practice the skill on a regular basis, then the training effectivness (and thus the ROI) may suffer. Can the trainer really be ...