Your personal development coach

Match Your Support to the Person’s Needs

Helping others learn requires you to tune into where the person is and what he/she needs. And because it is a two-way process, plan to always confirm your views and ask what support he or she wants.

There are many, many learning tips in Section 2 of this App. Get to know these tips and where they are in Section 2. Then, help others become better learners at the same time as they focus on their development goals. To do this, notice which of the 7 learning stages/practices will be useful NOW. Then suggest the actions in the relevant tip.

Focus on Practices 1 (Hear the Call) and 2 (Create Future Pull) of the

  • Help amplify the calls to learn. Ask: “What is calling you to learn?... Something inside you? Something outside (e.g., your employer or teacher requires it)? Something from the future (e.g., a career goal or a business strategy change)? Something from the past (a regret, a project just completed)? Something spontaneous e.g., (an interest in a vacation spot). Refer to the App Tip in “Hear the Call,” Notice Calls to Learn, as a guide.
  • Help create Future-Pull. Guide the person to create a Future Card (in Tools) or to tell a story illustrating what success will look and feel like, where s/he is today. Make sure this is a drawing or image, not a list.

Help create a development plan for the specific vision/goal. See Set and Achieve a Big Learning Goals in the Connect the Dot’s section of this App

Focus on Practices 3 and 4 in the Learning 4.0 Framework

  • Help him/her search for the best information and resources. Direct him/her to scanners who can suggest experts, reading, courses, and more. (Refer to the Tip, Find the Best Resources)
  • Help him/her identify and connect the dots of the learning journey – the “dots and dates” for success. The back of the Future Card (in Tools) has a place to record planned and spontaneous steps of the learning journey.

Draw on the planning ideas in the Tip, Set and Achieve a Big Learning Goal, (See the Connect the Dots section in Learning Tips)

Offer some Mine for Gold tips…

  • Support better learning from the resources s/he is using. Refer to advice in the App Tip, Learn From Any Resource
  • Provide some tips for concentration. Refer to advice in the Concentrate (App Tip)
  • Help them be SMARTer about bias and manipulation. Refer to the Tip, Detect Bias and Truth (In Tips) for support.
  • Help them find deeper insights – go beyond the surface. Find help in the Tip, Mine for Deeper Gold.

Advise the person to use advanced Learn to Last methods.

  • To help people develop abilities to remember information, refer to the Tip… Remember What You Are Learning
  • If a person wants to develop a physical, mental, emotional, intellectual skill, refer to the Tip, Develop a Skill or Habit
  • If the person ‘s learning agenda is to broaden perspective, update an attitude or belief or assumption, refer to the Tips, Update Attitudes and Beliefs and Change or Replace a Habit
  • If a person wants to become more creative in his/her learning area, refer to the Tip…Have Creative Insights.

Draw on the tips in the Transfer to Life (Section 2 of this App).

  • Walk the person through the Transfer to Life Guide (in Tools). Also, see specific ideas in the Tip, Transfer Learning to Life
  • Agree to “check-in” dates for reviewing progress.

Positive reinforcement – both internal to the learner and external from others -- is a powerful force in learning and change. As a helper, plan to play a big role in keeping energy in the process by…

  • Noticing small steps forward. Ask about progress. Notice progress. Talk about progress.
  • Being part of a celebration when the learning project, or a project stage, finishes! One common problem in adult learning is that people don’t recognize when they have completed a project or a learning stage. This has a big impact on motivation and self-confidence as a learner in the future.