How you see yourself as a learning and development practitioner is important to consider. But so is how you want to be seen by others, and how those you work with actually perceive you.

Your credibility and impact depends on projecting yourself as capable of growing talent and enhancing performance.

L&D professionals have both similar and very different approaches to building more effective workplaces. Personality, circumstance, expectations, clientele and many other factors influence how you work.

Consider these three Es – Expert, Enthusiast, Entertainer – as a significant factor in your L&D approach.

Are you all three? Are you naturally more one or two over the other/s? Are you adaptable to context, or do you rigidly stick to one over all others? As ever, and already, more questions than answers.

The expert

I often find people who position themselves as an expert are one dimensional, terribly serious and frankly dull. Such people see their role as primarily to control and manage the learning process; to make this a platform to make clear and pass on their knowledge, and frequently, in my experience, to do so without thought for the needs, expectations or contexts of those in receipt of their wisdom.

The enthusiast 

In contrast, the enthusiast makes clear their genuine interest in a topic, bringing an energy and authentic desire to engage learners, whether individually or in groups. This when managed well can be a catalyst for creating and applying learning.

Activity without enthusiasm can be hard work for all concerned, too much enthusiasm can create a drift off-topic, and a loss of connection with people less enthused.

The entertainer

The true learning professional knows their purpose is to create learning. Throughout my four decades in the profession I have encountered those who feel their role is mostly to tell jokes and generally give people a good time resulting in glowing ‘happy sheets’ at the end of the event. But this approach often leads to no clear value returned to the workplace.

It’s about combinations

In reality, we in the learning world are rarely any one of these to the exclusion of the other two. Experts can also be enthusiasts, and I have seen excellently judged use of humour whilst maintaining the gravitas of a well-informed, skilled person.

An enthusiastic entertainer without sufficient expertise is unlikely to deliver valuable insights or learning – the funnies are remembered, but where were the ideas and the tools that help people perform more competently? 

Judging the best mix in the moment is itself a skill – seen only by those showing expertise. Knowing when not to tell that funny story is what an enthusiastic entertainer needs to master. 

Many whose dominant desire is to be seen as having pure expertise will never combine this valuable role with being a comedian. But they should consider injecting a bit more of themselves into their delivery and contact, and not simply be a conduit for the passage of knowledge and learned behaviours.

By way of illustration…me!

I feel I am foremost an enthusiast. I deeply believe in the power and value of learning, and this I hope is clear in my delivery and the authentic interest I show in the needs, aspirations and issues of all with whom I work. This can sometimes eclipse the expertise I have developed since 1982, and when combined with my desire to entertain, I know at times, means my expertise can be lost amidst my enthusiasm – particularly when the entertainer in me takes hold.

My challenge is to manage my enthusiasm, whilst making more clear my expertise (I don’t like the word ‘expert’, it implies arrival, when we are all on a developmental journey without end). 

Over to you

What is your unique mix your of the three Es? Consider both your own perception and those of others. You may benefit by reflecting in advance of a learning event on the best blend of natural, (never forced or inauthentic) behaviours that will work best, in terms of maximising the learning value you create.