Years ago I worked for a pharmaceutical marketing company that hosted a feedback session for patients that were prescribed a drug for a disease called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.  

IPF is a brutally evil disease that essentially causes the lungs to scar over, leading to the patient to slowly losing the ability to breathe.  

Patients usually survive for 3 years and there is no cure; the drug only alleviates the symptoms for a time. 

The project was somber, as you can imagine, and there was one person in particular, whose story has stuck with me since.  

One of the patients was a former police officer- a man’s man. Beside him stood his small wife, a woman who was married at 18 and lived 4 decades as a  homemaker.  

The relationship was traditional- very traditional. He took care of the money, worked hard, and managed every part of life outside the home. She cooked, cleaned, and raised the children.  

And then the diagnosis came.  

He had a disease and she had a new mission- to manage everything that he had done for years. She had barely touched money her entire life and now life had foisted a brand new set of responsibilities on her. 

You could see the tension in her shoulders. She was afraid. Afraid that her husband would soon pass. Afraid that she would be alone. Afraid that the rest of her life she would have to navigate a world that had always been organized for her.  

She was afraid, but that didn’t stop her from facing her new life. 

She was in exceptional circumstances, but that fear and the bravery that follows are both necessary components to learning and it’s essential for onboarding professionals to understand this dynamic. 

One necessary approach to maximize the results in your learners is to create a welcoming learning environment to alleviate the pressure of a new space. 

Also, it is vital to celebrate instances of bravery in your learners; when someone confidently answers incorrectly; when someone volunteers to demonstrate a process that they aren’t confident in. The value of the attempt is worth much more than success, particularly in the early stages of the learning process.  

What methods do you rely on to alleviate the fear of learning? 

How do you celebrate instances of bravery in the classroom? 

What’s YOUR Vision?