If you want to succeed at anything, surely you need to know the end goal – the destination.  Right?  Even Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People) said it  – it’s habit number 2 –“begin with the end in mind”.     You’re on the road to nowhere if you don’t have a destination. The ancient philosopher Seneca (49-62AD) said: “Let all your efforts be directed to something, let it keep that end in view“.    

Perhaps you’re thinking: “yeah, that nothing new, and it’s not exactly rocket science”, but let me ask you this.  Is it always true?  If your answer is yes, then I have another question for you.   If it’s so obvious, then why is it that many of us struggle to get to the destination even when we have previously defined it? 

Now, I am not saying that “beginning with the end in mind” is bad.   A fixed finishing point helps us define a pathway to try and get there.  Having a fixed point also helps us stop and reflect and see how we are progressing towards it.  We can see if we are doing good or veering off at a tangent.      This in itself can help fine-tune and orientate our actions and efforts in the present moment.  

But one of the problems with the “end in mind” approach is that this end can persistently hijack our attention.  It results in us constantly having a  future focus.   And when problems arise (as they inevitably do), we continue to be future-directed rather than the more meaningful act of stopping and staying in the ‘here and now’.    Fixing an endpoint and working along a concrete path towards it is restricting.   It puts pressure on the project-people to only move that way, and it does not allow for the flexibility needed in the complex process of making sense of a people’s thoughts, experiences, and learning.  

But those who embrace the natural pauses to reflect will often receive new enlightenment, such as the realisation that an alternative path is more optimal than the one you are on.  And often, there are several routes – some more colourful than others.  BUT, if you continue to put the blinkers on and fast-forward through these natural learning moments, you continue on the suboptimal path, which requires a lot of time and effort and sucks the enthusiasm out of you. On the other hand, allowing more freedom is less pressurising, more enjoyable, more flexible as blind spots are uncovered, and you step into that beautifully enriching transformation territory. 

So how does this apply to training IMGs? 

We are often consumed by the end goal, which hijacks us and prevents us from truly hitting our trainees’ natural transformative points of influence.  Yes, you have to have an end goal – (like helping them get through all the MRCGP requirements, e.g. AKT, RCA/CSA, ePortolfio, WPBA etc.), but what I am saying is not to forget the journey!  When there are natural moments of “new enlightenment” – remember to stop, pause, explore, and understand before carrying on.  You still get to the end – but you also get to make transformative educational changes along the way.   And you both learn during the process.

In this session, we will explore some of the things you can do to become a transformative teacher as well as helping IMGs to “jump through the hoops”.  We will also explore culture and diversity, compare it with your current worldview and see how it differs   Come and join me and let’s simply explore.