Some people have ambition and courage. They take on whatever challenge they feel is necessary to reach their goals. There are others who shy away from it, but try to get close. They will brush shoulders with their challenges and might even sneak a glance at their opposition, but they will not face it head on. They will not take on the challenge, they will only tease it. They might make a few empty threats at the challenge as part of their own motivational speech to trainees, but they will not follow through. This is the case for many trainers. They settle for training jobs instead of the real thing. They train others for the job they really want.
You can always tell when your trainer is envious of you. They see you as a threat to their dreams and goals, but they do not want to do anything about it. When your trainer is someone like this, they are a bit hard to work with. They may not really give you a full training, or they may try to make it complicated so they confound you and make you look stupid. They do not want you to succeed in the job because they secretly want it. However, they do not have the drive to pursue it; this creates a major dilemma. You can report it and let their boss know that they are trying to make your training difficult, or you can just brush it off.
I have had to deal with people like this in the past. Fortunately, I did not need their training anyway. I am a quick learner and can figure things out as I go. I do not really need training and direction, other than a few little details. I can find ways to figure things out or can find someone else who would know and ask them. This was the case for me. The trainer tried confusing me the whole time. There were times when he would ask me to repeat what he had just said. When I could not regurgitate his words exactly, he would reprimand me for it and I would just brush it off. It was awkward and painful, but it did not last too long. Eventually I took my position and filled it well. I was effective at my job and I could tell he did not like me for it.
I decided to mention the situation to my boss. I explained how the trainee had tried to make my training especially difficult and how he had treated me poorly the whole time. Now that I had already impressed them with my work ethic and understanding of my position, they listened and decided to bring in the trainer and confront him. He denied everything, of course, but I sat there and argued my point well. I basically said he either did it deliberately, or just is not very good at his job in training.
I did not want others to have to endure his spiteful training sessions, though, so I decided to correct it and make sure everyone after me would have a much better experience when they were trained for positions at this company.
This trainer wanted the job I took, but never made a move to get it. He just settled for a job that would put him in proximity. He was a trainer. Just the same, he did not take on the challenge to aspire beyond his current position. Not all trainers are like this. Many people enjoy training and that is why they do it. But there are some who take up training jobs just so they can be in proximity to the real job they want but are afraid to try for. If you are one of these people, recognize that you have the potential to rise above your current position and move beyond training, if that is what you want to do.
