"When Experienced Trainers Became Students Again: A Lesson in Humbleness and Mastery"

By Yanal Shoumenn. TGS Fleet Services Trainer & Administrative Support

Four veteran driving trainers—each with at least 10 years of training experience—walked into our ASDT qualifying course in Jordan last week convinced they already knew everything. By day three, one told their manager: "We know all this information. There's no use attending." They'd delivered driver training for years. IPSGA? Observation? Anticipation? "Common sense," they said.

Then came the breakthrough. We asked them to coach a driver with 15 years of experience who'd committed critical violations of the highway code during a threshold assessment. They did what they knew how to do: listed every mistake at the end of the drive. The driver shut down, defensive. When we demonstrated coaching—asking, not telling—the same driver engaged immediately, identified his own gaps, and committed to improving. The trainers watched in silence.

One trainer later admitted: "Doing your work is tiring and requires constant practice. We forgot that these drivers already have experience. We need to rise to meet experienced adults differently." The shift wasn't about knowing Roadcraft principles—it was about bridging theory to behavioral change. They'd been teaching people to pass tests. We were teaching them to transform drivers.

The lesson for all road safety professionals: Empty your cup before entering any training. Even familiar information can reveal new pathways to mastery. The difference between knowing and doing often lives in the "how" and "why"—not just the "what."