Six 4 Sixty #6 - The new batch

Emma Cottington: 00:00:01

The Instructor Podcast with Terry Cook talking.

Chris Bensted: 00:00:04

With leaders, innovators, experts and game changers.

Emma Cottington: 00:00:07

About what drives them.

Terry Cook: 00:00:09

Welcome to the Instructor Podcast. This is a show that helps you become an even more awesome driving instructor. And as always, I am your host, Terry Cook.

k with another edition of the: 6460

And if you're unfamiliar with the 6 for 60 concept, this is where I get six awesome instructors. Ask each of them six questions and they have 60 seconds to answer. I call these folks my ADI Avengers.

And for today, we have shuffled things up a little bit. We've got a new batch of Avengers and I would really welcome your feedback on them.

But just before we get stuck in, I want to point you in the direction of the instructor podcast website. That's the instructor podcast over there. You'll get full access to all of the free resources we offer.

You can find more details about the premium membership, which includes a free week's trial. And you can sign up for things like the instructor newsletter and the instructor WhatsApp channel.

That's all available at www.the instructorpodcast.com. but for now, let's get stuck into the show. So we are back with a fresh lineup of the ADI Avengers. We've.

That's right, we've reshuffled the pack a little bit and I've only managed to annoy, I think, two people by doing so. So that's. That's quite good going for me. But I'm going to introduce them all one at a time with my. My favorite no context question.

And this question is the standard check contains 17 competencies. How many could you list off the top of your head right now? So we're going to come to ADI Vengeance number one, and that is Chris Spencer of the ditc.

And while I'm asking him, don't everyone else be thinking of more. Go with the answer you've got now. So, Chris, how many of the 17 competents could you list right now?

Chris Bensted: 00:02:01

Like verbatim? Zero.

Terry Cook: 00:02:04

Next up, Stuart Lockery.

Stewart Lochrie: 00:02:06

Oh, verbatim. Come on, give me a break. I think I would go with maybe five or six without having to phone a friend.

Terry Cook: 00:02:14

Five is six. And Stuart Locker is the Scottish handhold of bright coaching.

Next up, we have Emma Cottington, otherwise known as Scouse Emma for the purposes of today of Hope driving school. Emma, what number of the 17 competencies.

Emma Cottington: 00:02:26

Could you list four or five.

Terry Cook: 00:02:29

Four or five. We are next going to Alora Morris of Go Green. How many for you?

Laura Morris: 00:02:36

Honestly, this is my daily thing, so easily 15 or 16.

Terry Cook: 00:02:41

I like that. And then we are going to Norwegian Emma. I'm going to attempt it. Emma Fonnerland. She's nodding. That's good. Who is a support mentor?

And how many of the 17 competencies could you name?

Emma Fonnaland: 00:02:53

No, I'm going to play it safe and go with five.

Terry Cook: 00:02:55

I think I should have five. And then last, but by no means least, the confident driver himself, Mr. Kev Field. What number is it for you?

Kev Field: 00:03:04

My lucky number. 7.

Terry Cook: 00:03:07

I think the only person that said less than I would be able to do is Chris. I think I can do one, but either way, those are your AGI Avengers for today. So we're going to kick off with this first question.

And this first question is, why do you do what you do? Now, this question was submitted by Dan Hill of My Drive Time, and we're going to come to Chris Benstadt first. So, Chris, you've got 60 seconds.

Why do you do what you do?

Chris Bensted: 00:03:34

I love what I do, so what I do is theory. That's my big thing. I also train driving instructors and I support driving instructors doing lots of other things as well.

I enjoy it because otherwise I wouldn't do it. And it is interesting, diverse, and it keeps me, you know, keeps my brain entertained and that's quite hard to do. So that's. That's my.

That's my reason. 30 seconds. That'll do. Thank you.

Terry Cook: 00:04:05

Keep your brain entertained. I like it. Scottish hand solo. Next. Mr. Stuart Lockery. Why do you do what you do?

Stewart Lochrie: 00:04:12

So I probably have two answers to this, so I'll use Chris's 30 seconds that he didn't use, if that's okay. Um, I. I wear a few different hats and the reason I do that is because I get bored quite easily.

So that the kind of variety of, you know, a little bit of fleet training. I do a lot of driving instructor training work and obviously I'm.

I do do brake coaching and, you know, CPD for driving instructors and then of the NGC stuff as well. So that variety. Variety is important to me.

Um, but I think if you were to force me to do one job, it would be the driving or to say which of the things I get most satisfaction from. It would be driving instructor training. And the reason for that. Oh, my goodness. 20 seconds. This is difficult.

Is that I'm very, very grateful to my trainer for helping me out when I was unemployed and he Gave me a career and he taught me how to be self employed and pay my mortgage.

And I still get the greatest job satisfaction from helping other people to do that when they're unemployed or they're stressed out in the job they're currently in.

Terry Cook: 00:05:13

You were the new Bob, I think we found there. So next up, Emma Cottington. Why do you do. What do you do?

Emma Cottington: 00:05:21

Similar to the other guys, I wear a lot of hats, but so still teaching learners, training PDIs, running a franchise driving school, and more recently moving into like holistics, wellbeing. And my latest role is being a counselor. I've actually got live clients now, which is scary.

But the biggest reason that I do it is because I have a really big passion for human connection. I like helping humans, I like helping people figure things out and where they are in one place and how they want to get to the next place.

And I think if I reflect back on the roles that I do or why I've gone into the different avenues, it's mainly because in each of those places I didn't get the help that I wanted, so I wanted to do better. And that's why I do what I do.

Terry Cook: 00:06:17

Excellent. I like it. So next up, we've got Laura Morris. Dan Hill wants to know why you do what you do.

Laura Morris: 00:06:24

I think similar to all the answers so far, I think you'll wear a lot of different hats or the trainers here.

And being a trainer, I love nothing more than seeing a PDI can start their journey with that curiosity and that motivation, being able to support them, helping them qualify. But it doesn't stop there.

And I actually love seeing the ADIs that I've for people that have grown into ADIs and seeing them achieve further things like training PDIs themselves or going on to do fleet work or blue light work or can have other specialist roles. And that keeps me motivated is seeing that this isn't just helping someone qualify and that's it. It's a continuous thing.

But being able to support them, answer their questions, guide them, reassure them, help them with the challenges and also celebrate that success with them, that keeps me going.

Terry Cook: 00:07:16

Excellent. I like it. So let's move on to Norwegian Emma. Why do you do what you do now?

Emma Fonnaland: 00:07:24

You guys are all really positive and I have a really tragic reason.

So the reason I do what I do is because there's so many tragedies in life that we have no control over or that are so unavoidable and just not preventable. And I feel like road deaths largely are. And there's so much that we can do for road safety even without putting in that much effort.

And yeah, I just know that when my learners leave me, they're a lot more safety conscious than what they were when they came to me. And that's why I do what I do. And that's also why I love what I do.

Terry Cook: 00:07:58

I like that little line at the end there. Kefield, same question to you.

Kev Field: 00:08:03

Sometimes think I'm stupid. Why do I do what I do? I'm stupid because there's just so many things I want to do and so many things I'm doing.

But I like helping people, like most people have said. And I'm trying to change things as well. There's a lot of people that do stuff that use big words and I haven't got a clue what they mean.

So I'm into change. I want to make things simple so that everybody can understand it and we can all change together and understand the reasons why we're changing.

So that's what I'm trying to do.

I'm trying to just be me and do what I do, but in a way that's relative to what I want to do and hopefully it helps other people be able to understand why they're doing what they're doing.

Terry Cook: 00:08:54

Like it's some good answers there. And one thing I haven't told the four new ADI Avengers is that I do keep score. I rank all your answers and so far there's not a clear winner.

But there is a clear loser and we'll find out at the end who that is. So let's move on to question number two. Now, question number two is what's the one thing you would recommend to deliver a grade A lesson?

Every lesson? And this was submitted on my Facebook group by Stefan Solamenka. I'm assuming I've got that name right. If I got it wrong, I do apologize.

But we're going to start off with Stuart Lockery this time. Stuart, what's the one thing you would recommend to deliver a grade A lesson? Every lesson.

Stewart Lochrie: 00:09:33

So I'm assuming that we're taking a grade A lesson to be a good lesson. First of all, we're going to assume that that's the case. We'll maybe come back to that later. So I will go with being specific across the board.

I sit on a lot of part three assessments with PDIs and I think being specific is something that I keep coming back to more than anything else. So from very basic stuff like roundabouts is not a goal, it's a topic and getting better at roundabouts is not a goal either.

That, that, that's not enough. We need to break that down into, you know, is it the approach, is it the decision?

And then we can take that specific stuff on to, you know, where are we going to drive? Let's go for a drive and see what happens. Well, no, let's, let's give our people a little bit more information than that.

Where do they want to drive to? If we've got a little circuit, how many times are we going to drive around that circuit?

And taking that specificity, which is a word I can never say throughout your lesson, is going to just help make a better lesson.

Terry Cook: 00:10:37

That's some fun today. Emma Cottington, what's the one thing you would recommend to live at a grade A lesson?

Emma Cottington: 00:10:43

Every lesson, not forgetting the basics.

I think sometimes we can go down some rabbit holes and go a little bit too deep and a little bit too far of trying to manage the whole sort of 17 competencies. People are getting distracted by them instead of going, right, okay, let's, let's think about what the foundations are of being a good instructor.

Stick with that as you as your foundation and then work with your learner.

You know, it's their lesson, stick with them, keep them involved, keep them running the lesson and you sort of get out of the way whilst keeping it on track and making sure that it's going in the direction that you've. You've set at the beginning of the lesson or throughout the lesson. If things have changed, I'll just say.

Terry Cook: 00:11:33

Keep them running the lesson. I've not heard that phrase before. I like that phrase. I'm going to edit this and steal that. So, Lauren Morris, what's your one thing?

Laura Morris: 00:11:44

Well, I think my one thing would be being curious, being able to ask questions, dig deeper, seek out the learning opportunities, but being able to get inside your pupil's thoughts, encouraging, encouraging that creativity, the problem solving within them and having that focus and purpose.

Similar to what Stuart said, having a goal that genuinely matters to the pupil's needs and being able to dig deep as to why the pupil has that specific need, but also staying in the moment, also being able to respond to things in the moment. But I think, I think that's loads of things actually, isn't it? But being curious and asking questions, digging deeper.

I think that's where might have three things.

Terry Cook: 00:12:29

You've had three things, so we'll go with it. But do you know what? I kind of think that that one you said being curious kind of covers all three there, so we'll allow it on this occasion.

Let's move on to Norwegian Emma. Fire away.

Emma Fonnaland: 00:12:44

Well, I'm not Grade A, so what do I know?

But I know that I'm continuously working to improve the standard of my lessons and I know that I had a zoom session with Lees Berry last year, which I took so much from, and one of those things was working in threes. So sort of when you've agreed, like whether you're going to prompt or go independent or whatever, do it in in three rounds.

And then that will typically tell you if you need to sort of step up the support or strip down the support.

The other thing that I'm trying to be consistent with, if I'm not consistent enough, is I think Phil Cowley said that at any point you should be able to ask both the learner and the instructor what the goal is and both should be able to answer clearly. And when I do stay consistent with that, it does make a huge difference.

Terry Cook: 00:13:32

The phrase I use on my lessons, when a student says they can't do something and I'll say, you can't do it yet. So when you say not a Grade A, you're not a Grade A yet.

And also you weren't a grade A on your last test, that doesn't mean you're not a Grade A now or not delivering Grade A lessons. So slightly annoyed at that, but whatever. Let's move on to Kev Field. What's the one one thing, just to clarify, you would recommend.

Kev Field: 00:13:55

This is where I struggle to one thing, isn't it? You gotta narrow it down. And so many good things so far. But I'm just gonna say it's not about you, it's about the learner.

You know, if you thinking of a good lesson, a grade A lesson, a good lesson, whatever you wanna call it, it's got nothing to do with you because it's all about them. And if you can put them at the forefront of what you're doing, I can almost guarantee it's going to be a good lesson for both parties.

So my one thing for a good lesson is forget you and just put the learner or whoever you're teaching at the forefront of that lesson and have some fun.

Terry Cook: 00:14:39

I like it. Have fun as well. That's always a good thing. Let's move on then to Chris Spencer.

Chris, I've got a bonus question for you because you are currently on holiday. Hey, what a nice time.

Chris Bensted: 00:14:49

I'm having a lovely time, thank you. Yes. Yeah, it's been nice Weather, except at night. I can put up with that. It's good.

Terry Cook: 00:14:54

Excellent. So what's your one thing?

Chris Bensted: 00:14:59

So this is going to be really contradictory to what I actually believe as a holistic thing. But my one thing would be ignore everything that everybody else has said and make it all about you.

Because you are learning to do the job and you are developing yourself to do the job. And the better you get at the job, the better it is for your pupils. So be really selfish. You can afford to be.

You can still be as good as you need to be and focus on you. And once you're there then you can be as giving as you want. There's a saying about giving from your, from your plate, not from your cup.

And I think too often, especially PDIs get really confused by the amount of client centered and coaching that is pushed upon them and they're not taught to instruct. So core competencies still have a place and I think having really good structure means you can then afford to go off piste and you can be awesome.

But don't be afraid not to be at the beginning.

Terry Cook: 00:16:01

I will just chip in here and say that at the end of this, I will give anyone, anyone that wants an extra 60 seconds to rebut any of the comments that have been made today. Just throwing that out there in case anyone wants to take up on that at the end of this.

What I will say for anyone listening now is that if listen to that and pick one of those and start working on one of those and you will improve as a driving instructor. But let's move on to question three. Possibly my favourite question of the bunch.

How do you keep your chin up when pupils cancel, the car breaks down or the DVSA throws a spanner in the works. Now this question was submitted by something called ChatGPT. So we're going to start off with Emma Cottington for this.

How do you keep your chin up when pupils cancel, the car breaks down or the DVSA throws a spanner in the works?

Emma Cottington: 00:16:48

Well, I'm firsthand at this because I've had pretty much all of that in the last four weeks. So I think for me it's to take yourself. We all know here I'm a little bit, woo woo. I'm a little bit, you know, into all of that type of stuff.

But for me it's taking yourself out of that situation and thinking that is just, it's just a situation. It's just a situation. Have a look at what you can control in that situation and do that and prioritize it.

Have a look at what you can't prioritize or what you can't do in that situation and take three big deep breaths.

Terry Cook: 00:17:26

I think the biggest understatement of the day so far is Emma Cottington describing herself as a little bit woo woo. Let's move on to Laura Morris. How do you keep your chin up when pupils cancels and generally stuff starts going to shit?

Laura Morris: 00:17:40

I think, as de Kalyan says, he always says, one bad day doesn't define your career. I mean, I didn't start this career thinking it was going to be easy. Like, I accept that these things will happen.

And I actually have a to do list on my phone so that when I get to those unexpected breaks or cancellations I've got or something to do. I think it's all about perspective as well.

Because actually, if the DVSA throws a spanner in the works, I'm grateful because I'm in a position where I can help PDIs get through that and work through that. And I also, you know, if a PDI cancels a session, I'm actually grateful that they've made a responsible decision.

They don't feel in the right frame of mind or they've got things going on they can't train. And it also gives me the opportunity to go and do some admin or go to the gym or whatever it might be.

So I think it's about perspective, but I think it's also about accepting that it's going to happen.

Terry Cook: 00:18:30

I like it. So let's move over to Emma Fonnaland. How do you keep itching up when stuff goes wrong?

Emma Fonnaland: 00:18:37

Be honest, I'm just not that bothered. I don't know how I do it. I just don't really let it get to me.

I think, like, car trouble is probably the one that gets me the most because I don't like canceling. I don't like feeling like I'm unreliable. But at the end of the day, it's part of my job. I'm bound to have hard trouble and cancellations and stuff.

I just try to sort of ask about it, be empathetic to the highest degree I can. And if DBSA throw a spanner in the work, I'm just kind of like, my job's stressful enough.

I just, I can't focus on DBSA on top of that, I just have to do what I can with what I've got.

Terry Cook: 00:19:18

Focus on the dvsa. My job stressful enough, Stuart, I reckon that's Me? Was it to your ears? Let's move over to Kev field. This should be right up. Oh, oh, oh.

Here's my pun of the day. I've not fought this before. This should be right up your field. This should be in your field, Kev.

Kev Field: 00:19:33

Right.

Terry Cook: 00:19:34

I've amused myself way too much for that. Go for it. Can I have two minutes?

Kev Field: 00:19:39

Where do I start? So, yeah, I suppose you've got to think of Emma touched on it, where. What can you control? What can't you control? And then, do you know what?

If you can't control it? Just let it go. Just let it go. And it's part of what you. How you train yourself.

You can have that process where it's, oh, I've lost money, or the car's going to cost me money, or the dvsa, I can't get tests or whatever. It may, but is that really helpful? Not really. Can I change that in that moment? No.

So what I'm going to do is just change my mindset and say, what can I do? And when you get to sort of like my age, it's normally, do you know what?

I'm just going to sit in my little chair for a minute, and then the next hour goes by really, really quick. For some reason, I don't know why, but it's just like, I'll just have a little relax. And as Tracy's not here, I can say that don't let her know.

Terry Cook: 00:20:40

I think that I am just going to sit in my little chair for a bit. Maybe one of my favorite things I've heard this year. That may be my new mantra for life. I've completely lost track of where I am.

Chris Benstead, I think, say words.

Chris Bensted: 00:21:00

I want to know if he's got slippers. So I think there's three things. There's control, the controllable. That's all you can. So, you know, be realistic about it.

I like Michael Caine's approach, which is trying to get the good out of every bad situation. Because even if you get half a percent of, you know, better off than you were before, you're half a percent better off than you were before.

So, you know, work with the problem rather than against it, which I think, you know, is. Is my first approach to most things is going well, how can I, you know, how can I make this work for me?

And then realized that I can't change everything? So I, you know, I stick on an audiobook or maybe a podcast or something, and there's some really good ones out there.

So yeah, that's how I tend to, tend to try and just process it and control the controllable.

Terry Cook: 00:21:59

They would highly recommend Dipod. I'll put link in the show. Notes Michael Kane. Use the difficulty was his phrase. I love that. I thought that's always stuck with me. Use the difficulty.

Stuart Locker how do you keep your tune up?

Stewart Lochrie: 00:22:12

I think I'm a bit like Emma in terms Norwegian Emma in terms of being a little bit stoic about some of the small things. You know, people's canceling, car breaking down doesn't tend to bother me too much.

I get, I think things that would get me down or, you know, people taking advantage of me, some business decision that's gone wrong. I used to be really disinterested in the DVSA before I joined the ADI NGC and never paid any attention to them at all.

That's completely flipped on its head now because the DVSA throw a spanner in my works just about every single day of the week because an EDI sends a letter and completely stressed about something. And I use that. I use that to focus on what I should be doing. I use that to do what I want to do, which is to try and make the industry better.

I use it to focus in on stuff that I mentioned about why I do what I do. Helping people to be self employed, make a living, pay their mortgage and yeah, use it to refocus.

It's a bit like reframing, a bit like what Kev was kind of referring to. Use it. Use it.

Terry Cook: 00:23:17

Just a quick pit stop before we dive back in. If you're liking this podcast, imagine having even more support in your corner. Because that's exactly what you get with my premium membership.

It's designed for driving instructors who want to improve not just how they teach, but in how they run the business. Manage student nerves, set prices confidently and stop second guessing everything.

You'll get exclusive podcast episodes, proper deep dive training, and a non nonsense community of instructors who actually want to push themselves. Not just more about test rules. And here's the kicker.

There's a week's free trial on the base level, so you can dip your toes in, explore the content and see if it gives you that spark of momentum. Now, there's no strings attached, just real tools that you can use straight away.

Now, the upper tiers don't have that free trial, by the way, so if you're curious, that's the perfect place to start. So head over to instructor podcast.com or use the link in the episode description, give it A go and I'll see you on the inside.

But for now, let's crack back on with the episode. I get some. Some excellent answers there as well. So let's move on to question four.

This one was submitted by the most handsome man in the industry, as in fact, the next two are. So how can we get instructors more actively involved in cpd? And we're kicking off with Laura and Morris for this one.

Laura, how can we get instructors more actively involved in cpd?

Laura Morris: 00:24:46

It's a good question, I think, making it relevant.

Instructors know what they want and they think they know what they want and sometimes what we want and need a difference, but we need to make it relevant. And I think if we targeted, you know, CPD in areas which we know instructors want, we'd have more success. But I also think that CPD is misunderstood.

Like, instructors sometimes think that CPD requires big change or big commitments, but actually instructors truly understood how little CPD could be and still be effective. Think it's about quantity, so quality over quantity.

And I think if instructors understood the different ways in which they could access CPD or do CPD would have more success as well. We need to remember that instructors need to feel motivated, they need to feel challenged.

I think it's about targeting the right people with the relevant content and getting them to feel involved and engaged and connected.

Terry Cook: 00:25:41

Getting the right people really relevant content. Another phrase I like, but I am just going to chip in there because Laura started by saying it was a good question.

She spent the last four hours critiquing all my questions, sending me voice notes saying, you know, this one was good and this one not so much. So, yeah, critiqued most of them.

Laura Morris: 00:25:55

Not all of them, actually.

Terry Cook: 00:25:58

Only the ones that I did not chat GPT.

Laura Morris: 00:26:00

And you critiqued all of my questions anyway.

Terry Cook: 00:26:03

This is true. This is true. Let's move on then to Norwegian Emma. How can we get instructors more actively involved in continuous professional personal development?

Emma Fonnaland: 00:26:14

No, I think it needs to start when you start training.

I feel like very much when I was training, it was sort of sold as you have to pass your three tests and then you have the best career ever and then you just get bothered with a standards check every now and then.

And so I think if we were a little bit more proactive from the get go, making sure that CPD is something that people actually like, hunt down, I feel like very much when I was qualifying, I almost got like a pass pack rather than a training pack. And I think probably that there would be a big potential to make A difference there.

If we could make it a little bit more intriguing to PDIs and even ADIs.

Terry Cook: 00:26:58

Tell you what, there's some. There's some quality answers going about today. Um, like a pass pack for having a training pack that's going in support. Uh, okay, cool.

Let's go to Kev Field next. Uh, Kev, you're heavily into cpd, broad providing and embracing. How do we get more people involved?

Kev Field: 00:27:17

I'm probably going to give you worst answer ever now, but there we go. Let's try. So to get more people involved. Here you go.

My solution, if you said, right, you're going to now do CPD instead of taking a standards check, how many people would be involved in it? You would get loads and loads of driving instructors saying, do you know what? I'm going to listen to Terry Cook on his podcast.

And then that's really good, because then I don't have to do a standards check. Which is great, isn't it? But the thing is, with cpd, I think it's great, but it's, what do you do with it? And I think this is the problem.

We can listen to Terry all day long, but will people take things away from it?

But if you could prove, look, I've done cpd, this is how it's improved, or this didn't work, and when the DVSA phones you up and says, you're not going to do a standards check, but what have you done? What have you improved? This is what I've done.

Terry Cook: 00:28:19

There's so much I want to come back on on that. But that's not what this show's about. Uh, so let's move on to the myth, the man, the legend, the myth that is Chris Benstead.

Um, I'm presuming you'll need about six minutes for this, but you're getting one, so go for it.

Chris Bensted: 00:28:37

Uh, mandate it. Um, if we want more instructors involved in cpd, the. The ones that are finding it, that's all good. They're finding it. It's not a problem.

It's the ones that aren't, the ones that aren't interested. So mandate it. If we had to do a certain amount of hours, then that's the way to do it.

To answer the question, I don't necessarily think that's right or a good thing. I'd rather change minds and hearts than actually tell people what to do. But if you want the answer to the question, that is the correct answer.

What I also think is that the calls that we get the most at the DITC are from people that are really confused because we've now got so much CPD out there. They're struggling to find what's good. And, you know, it is really difficult to figure out what's right for you, not just what's right.

So I think we could maybe broadcast that better as well.

Terry Cook: 00:29:38

Think that after recording with you for about four years, I'd be able to. Or I'd learn not to try and predict what your answer would be. But, you know, I'll learn at some point.

I will just say just on that, about the industry having lots of CPD available. Little cryptic message for you all. Stay tuned for an episode that's coming out early in May and I'll leave it as that. Stuart Lockery.

How do we get more instructors involved in cpd?

Stewart Lochrie: 00:30:04

So my first response to this was, do we need to. For the second time, I would probably agree with Norwegian Emma.

We've not met Norwegian Emma, but for the second time, I would probably agree with you that it's, um.

If we focus on raising the, that, that, that standard of knowledge that we're given to PDIs when we come into the industry, we will reduce the need for the amount of CPD that a driving instructor needs to do in the first five, ten years of the, of being in the industry. Um, also, like Chris's idea about mandating, I would, I would maybe tweak that slightly and say, incentivise it.

Um, I would get rid of the, the grade A and the grade B and I would bring in four or five levels of adi. Um, you know, you qualify, you're a level one, you do a little bit of cbd, you're a level two, you do a little bit more, you're a level three.

If you want to train people to become driving instructors, you're a level four and incentivize it that way and raise public awareness of what a level 1, 2, 3, 4 driving instructor is.

Terry Cook: 00:31:01

I first heard that level 1, 2, 3, four thing you mentioned last night and I've spent several hours pondering that today.

I also feel like I need to make an apology to Emma Funnellan, because I feel like from this moment forth you will be referred to as knowledge and Emma. So on that note, Scouse Emma, same question to you.

Emma Cottington: 00:31:21

Oh, I think the first thing I, when I first read this question, it was, we need to demystify it. I think a lot of people don't understand what it is still. And then, interestingly, I've moved into a new industry in the counseling world.

And I'm only a trainee at the minute. And as a trainee, I've had to do four years of study.

I have to do 100 hours voluntary compulsory training, face to face with a client and I have to do CPD high after to get my qualification and to then keep it afterwards, so mandating it. But the CPD I can do is my choice. It just has to be relevant to my client base. So allow people to have, you know, the freedom to choose and explore.

So having that variety is great, but I think, like what Chris said, we need to kind of help people filter that to what it works for them because we're only going to get them interested if they do.

Terry Cook: 00:32:24

Yeah. The exasperated noise you made at the start of that was very telling.

All right, so question number five again, submitting by the the most handsome man in the industry. If you were starting again today, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently from day one?

So we're going to kick off with Norwegian Emma. I'll repeat that one more time. If you were starting again today, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently from day one?

Emma Fonnaland: 00:32:50

Well, number one thing I would do is sign up with support. I think that that was very much needed when I was qualifying. I think the second thing I would do is do a little bit of research.

I'm not very good at doing research.

I like to throw myself off the deep end and then I figure out if I'm going to swim or drown later on, which makes my journey significantly more difficult than it needed to be. And then I think the third thing that I would have done differently is I wouldn't have done pink full time.

And it was never the plan to do pink full time, but I just wasn't coping in my other job and I liked being a driving instructor. So again, it made my life significantly more difficult than it needed to be. So, yeah, I think that's what I would do differently.

Terry Cook: 00:33:34

Excellent. I'm definitely a sink or swim guy, you know, I have ideas. Let's do six. Six questions with 60 seconds. And six. Six most wonderful folks. This'll be fun.

Anyway, Kef Field, what would you do differently from day one?

Kev Field: 00:33:50

I would have brought Tracy in earlier to help me. She says otherwise she would have started up on her own. But what I basically mean by that is support.

I know you've got your support, but it's a very lonely job and yes, I'm very lucky because I'm don't want to be just stay doing what I do. I like to branch out like to do different things, but a lot of people just stay there.

And I think if you can, if I was to do it again, I would try encourage people to seek people to have conversations with more and yeah, so it's not so lonely when you first start out, have people around you that can help support, mentor, whatever you want to call it, but chat to in the end, you know, just so that you can feel part of something rather than very, very alone.

Terry Cook: 00:34:43

Love that answer. I love the answer, Kev. That's just a really nice, lovely answer. Thank you.

Chris Benstead, if you were starting against day, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently from day one?

Chris Bensted: 00:34:54

Probably nothing. Um, I've been thinking. I have learned something from every single step along the way.

I think I've been quite lucky and we all know that luck is hard work and opportunity lining up. But I have been lucky. There's not a lot I haven't had the opportunity to do. And yeah, I was in the right place at the right time a lot.

You know, Facebook, working with the dvsa, various different things. So, yeah, I don't think there is anything. There's things that I would advise other people don't do.

Read the bloody contract is what I'd advise people should do and probably don't sign it.

Outside of that, you know, it was important I had that opportunity to regret signing a contract because I wouldn't have been able to tell other people about it and I probably wouldn't be here.

Terry Cook: 00:35:54

In reference to my earlier comment, I predicted for this question that at least one person will say nothing. I wouldn't change anything, and I predicted it would be you. So I've got one right today that's good. Scottish Han Solo. What would you do differently?

Stewart Lochrie: 00:36:07

With one clear exception, which I'll come back to, I would also say nothing. For kind of broadly similar reasons to Chris.

I've made some catastrophic business decisions in my career, some of them, you know, pretty small and inconsequential, that have caused me some embarrassment along the way. I made a couple of really big ones and lost a lot of money. I tried to start up a trailer training business that cost me a fortune.

But, you know, if you put me back in time, I would probably do the same thing again and I would, I would try things because that's. That's how you learn, isn't it? That's what we tell our peoples all the time in our PDIs, that we have to make mistakes.

And I think in business especially, you learn from your mistakes. And you get better and you grow. That's how it works.

The glaring exception is, and if you're a PDI listening to this, you're a driving instructor just starting out. Sort your bloody pension. I came out of hospitality with really great pensions stashed up, didn't touch it for 10 years. Massively regret it now.

Sort out your pension, mate.

Terry Cook: 00:37:06

Yes, wise words. Let's go to Emma Cottington. I've learned my lesson from last time. Emma Cottington, what would you do differently?

Emma Cottington: 00:37:18

my training that was back in: 2010

I think I've. I've delayed and procrastinated a lot of stuff for the fear of not jumping in and the fear of making the mistake.

So I think for me, if I went back now, I would probably jump a little bit sooner, be, you know, be ready to make the mistake or be a bit more open to making the mistake and just seeing how it goes. Not everything's going to work out, you know, things do go to ship, so, you know, let's let it ride out.

So I think be a little bit more curious and follow, follow your heart.

Terry Cook: 00:38:08

I get curious. The words we mentioned a couple of times. Laura Morris, what would you do differently?

Laura Morris: 00:38:15

I'm also joining the nothing train.

I honestly don't think I would do anything differently because I am where I am today because of the path I took and if anything, the failures and mistakes that I've made have made me who I am today. It motivated me to try different things or go down different paths or to get the right support.

And that's why I have the knowledge and the skill and the passion that I do today.

And like Chris said as well, you know, being able to have that experience, it makes you more passionate about being able to deliver that message to others. Now, I think failures build our success and I don't think we should focus on trying to be perfect because we can't be.

And the day I think I'm perfect is probably the day I should stop doing this, because actually not being perfect means I'm far more likely to be curious and be open to different perspectives or try new challenges or having courage to do wacky things that might just pay off.

Terry Cook: 00:39:11

So, yeah, one of the things I love about these Six for Sixes is the different answers that we get and especially when people are answering the same thing. So we've got three answers there of nothing, but they were all very different and that's why I like these fixed sixes.

I'm going to praise myself for giving myself a good choice of guests. So that's good.

So let's move on to question number six again, submitted by the most handsome man in literary, as vouched for by both Sandharper and Phil Cowley. What legacy do you want to leave behind? And we're coming to you first for this one, Kev. What legacy do you want to leave behind?

Kev Field: 00:39:49

He was a nice man. That's it. That'll do me. But basically, yeah, I've got a legacy with the qualifications that I've done both with confident drivers and idea.

And we just want to make training simple. There's too many things out there that are just like, what are you talking about? Why are you doing that? But yeah, he was he.

And he did it really simply and there was no big words involved. There you go. That is my legacy.

Terry Cook: 00:40:25

Field made it simple. I like it. Chris Benstead. I'm guessing it's not simple. What's your legacy?

Chris Bensted: 00:40:36

It suggests a plan, which is a ridiculous question. I've never had one. I don't plan on having one, but that's part of the issue. I, I just want to see where it goes.

I'm currently in trouble with my 14 year old because of a couple of commercial decisions that I made not to do certain TV things which apparently would have made him really popular. So I, you know, yeah, if I can end this and he's, he's happy with what I've done in my career, I'll take that. So I'll go with that one.

If the kids are impressed at the moment, they're not. So we'll see what happens. But no, I refuse to have a plan. I'd turn up to a standards check without knowing the pupils. So I'm mad.

Terry Cook: 00:41:27

Maybe Chris Spencer. I refuse to have a plan. Maybe that ties into why you're often late for these recordings. I don't know. Just a thought. Stuart Lockery.

What legacy do you want to leave behind?

Stewart Lochrie: 00:41:38

How many can I have, Terry? How many legacies can I have?

Terry Cook: 00:41:40

As many as you want within 60 seconds.

Stewart Lochrie: 00:41:43

I like the idea of my driving school surviving long after I'm gone. I like the idea of people saying, that was Stuart Lockery's driving school. He set that up and it's a really good driving school.

I want to do something with the ADI ngc. I want to make it bigger, more members take it to the next Level.

I think that would be really good to build on the amazing work that people at Lynn Barry have done. I want to increase the kind of knowledge and awareness and visibility of coaching in the industry and client centered learning.

Because I think that's not just good for driving and road safety. I think that's good for human beings. So I think that's very, very important.

I want to play some part in raising public awareness about what we do for a living and help to explain that better and give driving instructors the communication skills to be able to do that.

Terry Cook: 00:42:36

That's all Lockery. I want to do more than anybody else. I like it. All right, so who have we got next? I've got lost. Emma Cottington, what's your legacy?

Emma Cottington: 00:42:48

Mine is fairly simple. I just want to be known for leaving people better than I found them and inspiring other people to leave other people better than they found them.

Because if we all did that, we're all growing and that's it.

Terry Cook: 00:43:05

You have left me better than you found me. So we'll throw that out there.

Emma Cottington: 00:43:10

Job done.

Terry Cook: 00:43:11

Excellent. So you're retiring now.

Emma Cottington: 00:43:12

Or maybe as long as somebody's going to pay me in that retirement because I don't have him sorting my pension out.

Terry Cook: 00:43:18

Yeah, I'm not doing that. So much away. Okay, so, Laura Morris, what's the legacy you want to leave behind?

Laura Morris: 00:43:25

I think I want to be remembered for having blue hair and for my love of Costa. Everyone knows the blue hair.

Like, I want to be known for the community in which we created the foundation, you know, the resources we built, the network we encouraged and do. You know, in fact, I think that's what I want to be remembered for is actually that I didn't do this alone.

I had awesome people around me to, you know, people. People need to remember that this isn't a career where you can be so successful if you just want to do everything by yourself.

There's got to be people around you, even if it's the people to moan at on the bad days. But I also want people to remember that the person who made me the incredible trainer that I am today, and that was of course, Lee Walsh.

And she is why I am so good. So if I'm remembered, she's got to be remembered, too.

Terry Cook: 00:44:13

I like it. I like it. And I will just chip in and say that that sums me up perfectly because my legacy is riding on the coattails of everyone else.

And I'm more than happy to do that. Norwegian Emma legacy. And I really hope you say one particular phrase for this. What legacy do you want to leave behind?

Emma Fonnaland: 00:44:31

I mean, I've said from the beginning I'm going to be the best in the industry and I stand by that.

But that's a very big goal and I know it's quite individual, so being the best for everyone might not be possible, but I think I'd be very comfortable if I left behind a legacy of people making safer decisions on the roads, maybe because I've played part in it. And I think if I was known as one of the driving instructors that brought us to Vision Zero, I think I'd. I guess I'd be okay with that.

Terry Cook: 00:45:01

Vision Zero. I'm glad someone got it in. Great. So that's that. That's the last question.

So let's take a moment to wrap up and we're going to ground and I want you to tell me why you're awesome and what you have to offer. So we're going to go around the same way. Hev Field. Why are you awesome and what do you have to offer? You've got 60 seconds.

Kev Field: 00:45:20

I'm awesome because I'm me and there is no other person except me like me. And what do I offer?

I'm going to say qualifications now because I'm so into them now and they have absolutely changed the way I look at things and the way I explain things as well.

So I've got loads of knowledge that I didn't know before and, yeah, I just want to get people to know that there's other things out there for them to do.

Terry Cook: 00:45:49

Bensted. Why are you awesome and where can people find you?

Chris Bensted: 00:45:54

I just hang about with you and it rubs off. You can find me via the DITC signposting platform for the industry.

And if you've got someone who needs support with theory, whether that is learner theory of any category, because I'm expanding out into lots of other categories because people need the help or with part one. Then please put people in touch via theory test explained.

Terry Cook: 00:46:21

And Stuart Lockery. Why are you awesome and where can people find you?

Stewart Lochrie: 00:46:25

I am awesome because I am Scottish and people can find me@brightcoaching.net where we also have a professional qualification. I agree with Kev. Doing the whole qualification process has just made me such a better trainer.

I don't know about you, Kev, just understanding of learning outcomes and all that kind of stuff. Or you can find me at the ADI njc, which is a fantastic association.

Terry Cook: 00:46:46

Scottish Han Solo. Okay, cool. Emma Cottington. Why are you awesome? Where can people find you?

Emma Cottington: 00:46:53

I'm awesome because I'm surrounded by awesome people and they can find me at updriving school.co.uk on the website or just contact me through Facebook.

Terry Cook: 00:47:05

Buy Emma's CPD book, everyone. It's awesome. Lauren Morris, why are you awesome and where can people find you?

Laura Morris: 00:47:13

I'm awesome because I have blue hair. Where people can find me at Gogreen driving instructor training.

But of course we also have Lou's PDI group, which is a safe space for anyone, regardless of who they're trading with. Any PDI who would like to network or share ideas or anything else.

Terry Cook: 00:47:35

Excellent. And last, but by no means least, Norwegian Emma, why are you awesome and where can people find you?

Emma Fonnaland: 00:47:43

I am awesome because I'm very, very motivated and I want to get things right and I'm going to be the best in the industry. I think that's kind of awesome.

You can find me on Instagram by again, wheel wise Emma or you can find me on Facebook where I'm Emma Brickener Farnelland.

Terry Cook: 00:48:02

Excellent. I genuinely thought that when you said I am awesome, you're going to stop there and just go, I'm awesome.

And I thought that would have actually been really cool. But no big thank you guys for joining me today. I really enjoyed that. That was awesome. Thank you.

Emma Cottington: 00:48:15

The instructor podcast with Terry Cook, talking.

Chris Bensted: 00:48:18

With leaders, innovators, experts in game changers.

Emma Cottington: 00:48:21

About what drives them.