Some lessons in life only land the tenth time you hear them.
I didn’t always know that. Early in my training career, I truly believed that one good workshop — full of smart insights, hands-on tools, and a few well-placed jokes — would change how people lead.
You can guess how that went.
A few weeks later, I’d check in with someone who had been all fired up after a session:
“Hey, how’s that new feedback approach working out?”
“…Oh, yeah. I kind of forgot about that. Things got busy.”
That’s when I started to understand something deep and slightly uncomfortable:
We don’t learn because we heard something once. We learn because we’ve practiced it enough times that it becomes part of us.
And that realisation? It took me back — way back — to muddy boots and sore shoulders.
From Shooting Ranges to Real Life
Long before I stood in a training room, I stood in military boots. We trained constantly:
Shooting drills.
Combat scenarios.
Marches with full equipment.
Techniques we hoped we’d never have to use — but had to be ready for, just in case.
Some of it wasn’t glamorous. Most of it wasn’t fun. But all of it had purpose.
We trained to respond without needing to think. So that if things ever got serious, our muscles, minds, and instincts knew what to do. Repetition was never questioned — it was survival.
That same principle applies surprisingly well in business leadership. No, managers aren’t dodging bullets. But when tensions rise, or difficult decisions need to be made, or a tough conversation is waiting — we still fall back on habit.
And if we haven’t trained those habits? We default to old patterns.
CrossFit (and the Joy of Failing Repeatedly)
Later in life, I swapped my army boots for training shoes and picked up CrossFit.
Let’s talk about double-unders. If you’ve never tried them, imagine jumping rope, but the rope spins twice per jump. Easy in theory. In practice? I looked like someone trying to fight off a mosquito with a skipping rope.
But I kept trying. Day after day, session after session. I failed forward — until one day, it just… clicked.
That’s what repetition does. It builds skill through struggle. You learn form. You discover timing. You adjust. You sweat. You repeat.
In leadership, it’s the same. You don’t become a great delegator, communicator, or coach because you saw a model once. You try. You trip over your own words. You realize you’re micromanaging again. Then you course-correct.
It’s humbling — but it works.
The Lessons Repetition Taught Me (That No Book Could)
One of the unexpected gifts of repetition is that it doesn’t just make you better — it makes you clearer.
As a manager myself, going through cycles of trying and reflecting helped me see where I added value — and where I really didn’t. I started to let go of tasks that drained me. Not because I was lazy, but because someone else could do them better.
Repetition showed me that delegation isn’t weakness — it’s strategy.
You only learn that kind of wisdom by living through the rhythm: try, stumble, adapt, repeat.
So… What Does That Mean for Training?
It means we need to stop thinking of training as an event and start seeing it as a process.
A good training experience is just the start — the spark. But it needs fuel to become a fire. That’s where repetition comes in:
• Follow-up workshops that revisit and deepen the original topic
• Coaching sessions that ask, “So… how did that go in real life?”
• Peer check-ins where colleagues compare experiences and insights
• Reframing exercises that present the same ideas in new ways
The key is to mix consistency with variation — like a good workout plan. Same muscles, different angles. Same goal, different paths.
Because the goal isn’t just to understand a concept. It’s to live it — without overthinking.
The Business Case (Because Yes, There Is One)
Repetition turns “training” into lasting value.
It’s the difference between someone saying, “I liked that workshop,” and someone leading differently six months later.
It’s also how you build culture. Because once managers start repeating the lessons themselves — with their teams — things start to shift. Language changes. Priorities clarify. Trust builds.
That’s when the training investment starts to pay for itself — with interest.
Why Work With People Who’ve Seen It (and Re-seen It) All
This is where we as a training company come in. Not to deliver magic formulas or bulletproof slide decks — but to guide the long game.
We’ve worked with managers across different industries, cultures, and chaos levels. We know when to repeat, when to reframe, when to let something land in silence. And when needed, we’ll bring the same tool back again — not because we’re out of ideas, but because you’re ready to see it differently this time.
That’s the gift of experience: not just knowing what works, but knowing when it will work.
Final Thought — and One Friendly Nudge
If you’re serious about leadership development, here’s my nudge:
Don’t be afraid to repeat.
Build rhythm into learning. Celebrate reflection. Give people space to try, fail, and try again.
Because repetition builds more than skill. It builds character. Awareness. Wisdom.
And maybe — just maybe — one day, that thing you thought you’d never get (like double-unders, or saying “no” as a manager) becomes second nature.
That’s when you know: the training worked.
A Personal Note on Writing (and Delegating)
People sometimes ask me, “Do you use ChatGPT to write your blogs?”
The honest answer is: yes, I do.
I know what I want to say. I have the stories, the experience, and the ideas. But I’m not a native English speaker — and writing clearly in a second language isn’t always easy. Before tools like this, my wife had to read and correct everything I wrote (thank you, dear!). It was time-consuming for both of us.
Now, I still do the thinking — but I delegate the sharpening.
I brainstorm, share my thoughts, sometimes even in broken sentences. And then, with a bit of back-and-forth, the words take shape. I stay in charge of the message, but I get help where I need it.
