WHEN THE STUDENT IS READY, THE TEACHER WILL APPEAR

No, this isn’t a saying from the TV show Kung Fu. BUT! It is so insightful (no pun intended) that it  could have been said by the wise old man and as truthful as most Chinese proverbs.

What does it mean, “When the Student is Ready”? To me this is when a person is at wits end and can’t think of anything to do to help them out of a situation or find a solution to a problem. Yesterday I talked about “I’ve Tried Everything”; the student becomes ready when EVERYTHING hasn’t worked!

“The Teacher Will Appear”, OK does this mean that out of a cloud of smoke with a crack of thunder and a lightning bolt an old wise man or woman will walk up to the student slowly and tell them the meaning of life? Maybe... Just Kidding! What this means to me is it is only when someone is at the point where nothing seems to solve the problem that they open their minds and are willing to listen to ideas and other solutions that are offered.

The facts are the teacher is always there. The teacher is ready, willing and able but can’t teach until the student is willing to learn.

At many points of our professional careers we will become students. This may happen once or it may happen many times to each of us. It will be up to us each and every time to decide when we will allow the teacher to appear.

Some of us will be like the average rep and wait until we are so frustrated that the teacher is our last hope for success. Others of us will see that the normal solutions and actions we have taken are not going to be the answers we need this time and will allow the teacher to appear early on in the decision process.

The last thing to talk about is WHO IS THE TEACHER? You may be surprised. The teacher can be just about anyone that is around you. It isn’t always a person who has done more, been around longer, is smarter or has a better education. It may be someone who has never seen this problem before but because they have no preconceived ideas they are able to look at the problem with a clean and unbiased mind. Don’t make judgments on the teacher, make judgments on their teachings.

WHEN YOU CAN TAKE THE PEBBLE FROM MY HAND, THEN YOU MAY GO!

Lorin