The Green Room #46: Driving Instructors 2024 in Review - Part One
As we wrap up 2024, this episode of the Instructor Podcast takes a reflective look at the year's highs and lows within the driving instructor industry.
The main focus is on the positive strides made in embracing road safety and the increasing collaboration among trainers, ADIs, and PDIs. Guests Stewart Lochrie, Chris Bensted, and Tom Stenson share their insights, highlighting the influx of enthusiastic younger instructors eager to make their mark. With a blend of humour and candid conversation, this episode showcases the community's growth and the exciting potential for the future of driver education.
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Transcript
The Instructor Podcast with Terry Cook talking.
Chris Benstead:With leaders, innovators, experts and game changers.
Terry Cook:About what drives them.
Terry Cook:So welcome to the Instructor Podcast Green Room Edition.
Terry Cook:This is the show that regularly takes lunch break and even sometimes has a sandwich.
Terry Cook:So thank you, Kemi Badenok.
Terry Cook:As always, I am your splendid host, Terry Cook.
Terry Cook:I'm delighted to be here, but you'll be delighted.
Terry Cook:It's not just me because I am joined by three of the wisest people in the entire driving instructor world.
Terry Cook:First up, I'm joined by the founder of Bright Coaching and the current Chair of the ADI NJC, the Scottish Han Solo, Mr.
Terry Cook:Stuart Lockery.
Terry Cook:How are we doing, Stuart?
Stuart Lockery:I'm good, Tony, how are you?
Terry Cook:Happy Christmas.
Terry Cook:Thank you.
Terry Cook:Thank you for joining us today and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, despite how you may sound.
Stuart Lockery:Yeah, I'll do my best to get through this.
Stuart Lockery:I'll do my best.
Terry Cook:Yes, well, I will pile extra pressure on you accordingly.
Terry Cook:We're also joined today by the head of training at the ADNJC, the host of the 10 Minute Takeaway YouTube show and the Tom to My Terry, Mr.
Terry Cook:Tom Stenson.
Terry Cook:How we doing, Tom?
Tom Stenson:I'm very good, thank you, Terry, how are you?
Terry Cook:All the better.
Terry Cook:Seeing your smiley face, obviously.
Terry Cook:And how was your Christmas?
Tom Stenson:It was a double thumbs up for me.
Terry Cook:Double thumbs up.
Terry Cook:There's a joke that I'm not going to do and it wouldn't be the Green Room if I wasn't joined by the founder of Theory Test, explained the co founder of the ditc.
Terry Cook:The best there was, the best there is and the best there ever will be.
Terry Cook:Chris Benstead.
Terry Cook:How are we doing, Chris?
Chris Benstead:No, I'm good, thank you.
Chris Benstead:I've had a lovely Christmas and I'm very pleased to be here with you guys.
Terry Cook:Bonus points for you, Chris, if you can tell us which WWF wrestler that nickname was from that I just gave you.
Chris Benstead:No?
Stuart Lockery:Okay.
Terry Cook:Right.
Terry Cook:First one I put in the comments generally does get a proper prize for that, by the way.
Terry Cook: or the year if you like, of: Terry Cook:And I am also going to be asking five of the best questions that ever created.
Terry Cook:So there is no pressure and we're going to start off with this one.
Terry Cook:In fact, just before we do start off, I'm going to give everyone a very quick chance for a very quick plug before we start.
Terry Cook:So Stuart, do you want to just tell everyone where they can find you?
Stuart Lockery:Oh, hello.
Stuart Lockery:I'm in Scotland.
Stuart Lockery:I run Bright Coaching.
Stuart Lockery:You can find me@brightcoaching.net or I guess you can find me at the Avingc now.
Stuart Lockery:Yeah, either of those places are fine, depending on what you're looking for.
Stuart Lockery:Oh, thank you.
Terry Cook:I'll just go to Scotland or just go to Scotland.
Terry Cook:Yeah, just steal things.
Terry Cook:Tom, where can people find you?
Tom Stenson:They can find me at the Airdinjc as well or@audit trainer.com and Chris, where.
Terry Cook:Can people find you?
Chris Benstead:You can find me@theditc.co.uk or theory test explained, depending on what services you require.
Terry Cook:Okay, so we're going to start off with question one, oddly, of five of the greatest questions ever created.
Terry Cook:We're going to start with you, Chris, for this one.
Terry Cook: ne or some of your fails from: Chris Benstead:It's going to be a long list.
Chris Benstead:No, I, I don't think there's been a huge individual fail.
Chris Benstead:I think I, my failure was in picking up a momentum and it was one of those kind of failure by success things where I got.
Chris Benstead:Everything else got in the way.
Chris Benstead:So I'm looking forward to a new year of actually achieving the things that I've been working on that I promised would be done by the end of this year and they're not even slightly there.
Chris Benstead:But yes, that is, that's my main thing is that lots of, you know, lots of foundations have been set but none of them have actually got anything built on them yet.
Terry Cook:You did have, and I'm sure you may mention this later, but you did have a positive disruption to the year that may have hampered your progress slightly in some ways.
Chris Benstead:I'm sure I wasn't going to mention my new daughter on a failure.
Chris Benstead:You know, there was clearly a failure that was involved.
Chris Benstead:But no, she, no, she's not coming under failure.
Chris Benstead:She's.
Terry Cook:No, I don't mean she was a failure.
Terry Cook:I mean that where, that, that, that.
Terry Cook:What's the word?
Terry Cook:The rolling of enthusiasm, if you like.
Terry Cook:There's a bit of disruption there when you have a massive change to family circumstance.
Terry Cook:So I think you've done really well.
Chris Benstead:Oh, thank you.
Chris Benstead:I'll take that.
Chris Benstead:Because, you know, she thinks I've done incredibly well.
Chris Benstead:She's.
Chris Benstead:Yeah, excellent.
Terry Cook:So I, I'm glad those things done well.
Terry Cook:But yes, woman, you can mention that properly in the, the winds of the year.
Terry Cook:Tom, what about your failures from this year?
Terry Cook:Because thinking back to last year, you didn't have many.
Terry Cook:Has there been many this year?
Tom Stenson:Yes, lots.
Chris Benstead:The, the.
Tom Stenson:I think what I'm trying to do this year is look more positive on those fails.
Tom Stenson:The two that stand out to me.
Tom Stenson:One was a trainee who was unsuccessful twice at part two, who then decided to go elsewhere for training, which kind of made me think a lot about myself, which is the positive I'm taking.
Tom Stenson:And the second kind of fail was somebody who came to me for training after failing three standards checks and two part threes.
Tom Stenson:Unfortunately only gave me a few months to try and work any magic and I feel like I could have done better now that I reflect on it, but this person is going back round and is working hard to try and correct some of those unsuccessful attempts, which is good.
Terry Cook:I like that because it's something we've spoke about quite a bit this year actually is failing.
Terry Cook:I know you've spoke about it on one of the premium shots it did as well.
Terry Cook:And I do think it's important because I do think that pretty much every failure brings about a positive, don't it, at the end of it?
Terry Cook:The failure aspect is never nice.
Terry Cook:We don't like it at the time.
Terry Cook:But I think when you've got over that failure, we can always take something from it.
Chris Benstead:Except when your parachute doesn't open.
Tom Stenson:As long as it's not my parachute.
Terry Cook:I mean, look, if you survive, you can learn from it.
Terry Cook:You'll learn to do your parachute properly next time.
Terry Cook:But, you know, experiential learning, I think that's called.
Terry Cook:Yeah.
Terry Cook:And the other parachuters that we're going to go afterwards will know.
Terry Cook:Maybe I'll check my parachute again before I jump.
Terry Cook:So it might not be your success, but your death from the parachute jump could result in a positive for someone else demonstration.
Terry Cook:Yep, yep.
Tom Stenson:You just said we survived, now we've died.
Terry Cook:I mean, it's been a long week.
Terry Cook:All right, Stuart, what are some of your.
Terry Cook:Oh, God.
Terry Cook:This whole podcast so far could go on this list.
Terry Cook:What are some of your fails from.
Terry Cook:From this year?
Stuart Lockery:I'm going to try not to take that personally as your other guests.
Stuart Lockery:So, yeah, I kind of this and I was kind of like, yeah, I've had quite a good year.
Stuart Lockery:I've not had any fails.
Stuart Lockery:But then obviously I lied to myself all the time.
Stuart Lockery:I can relate to Chris's kind of stuff about think this is what you're talking about, having just so many things going on and I don't mind that.
Stuart Lockery:Usually it keeps me pretty busy.
Stuart Lockery:But actually one of the fails has been if we're allowed to talk about money.
Stuart Lockery:I've not made as much money as I wanted to this year, guys.
Stuart Lockery:I'M sorry if that was crude or anything, but I think our jobs, my job in particular is different from driving instructors that are out teaching 20, 30 hours a week.
Stuart Lockery:But every driving instructor knows that if they don't make enough money in a month, then there's something not right.
Stuart Lockery:Something needs to be kind of addressed somewhere.
Stuart Lockery:And across a couple of businesses, we just didn't make as much money as we should have done.
Stuart Lockery:There are reasons for that.
Stuart Lockery:Bright coaching took a lot of time out of what I was doing with the driving school, but so that's kind of the main one getting into next year that I need to address, get back to doing instructor training and kind of balance the books a little bit.
Stuart Lockery:Couple of fitness goals that I didn't achieve.
Stuart Lockery:Probably my biggest fail, though, is that I've not been able to reduce my time on Facebook as much as I wanted to.
Stuart Lockery:That's been a really big thing for me this year because it just sucks the energy out of me.
Stuart Lockery:Andrew Love used to talk about energy vampires, and Facebook remains an energy vampire.
Stuart Lockery:Listening to Tom's fails about not being able to get somebody through the part three.
Stuart Lockery:Somebody had a real go at me on one of the Scottish Facebook groups a couple of weeks ago.
Terry Cook:I just sat.
Stuart Lockery:I literally was awake all night thinking about it and how to respond to it.
Stuart Lockery:I took it really personally until realizing that I just don't give a shit.
Stuart Lockery:You know, it's fine.
Stuart Lockery:Just need to get on with it, and I'm doing my job and I'm happy with how I do my job.
Stuart Lockery:Okay.
Stuart Lockery:I'll keep getting better at it.
Stuart Lockery:I just need to get off Facebook.
Stuart Lockery:That's the problem.
Terry Cook:I initially wanted to ask you about the financial side, but I'm more interested in the Facebook side because I think that's something that a lot of us can relate to.
Terry Cook:But I am curious.
Terry Cook:So a genuine question.
Terry Cook:Is it Facebook or is it phone?
Stuart Lockery:Sorry, is it Facebook or phone?
Terry Cook:Yeah, because for me, I went down that rabbit hole of thinking that I was struggling a lot with Facebook, and then I realized it's not just Facebook, it's my phone.
Terry Cook:You know, if there's nothing interesting on Facebook, I'll find something else on the phone.
Terry Cook:So it's gonna be that dopamine hit.
Stuart Lockery:So I think it's both, but I think it's.
Stuart Lockery:I think it's more specifically Facebook, because, you know, Facebook is a necessary evil for people like all of us here in terms of the way we market our businesses.
Stuart Lockery:It's where loads and loads of driving instructors are and when we put a post out about a training course that's coming up or a service that we're plugging, we need to see how that performs.
Stuart Lockery:It's a little bit more than dopamine.
Stuart Lockery:We want the likes.
Terry Cook:Yes.
Stuart Lockery:But it's a little bit more than that.
Stuart Lockery:It's a little bit.
Stuart Lockery:Am I getting a return on investment here?
Stuart Lockery:Am I getting eyeballs on what I'm doing?
Stuart Lockery:And I would love to be that kind of guy who can just log on on a Monday and schedule all my posts for the week or the fortnight and then log off and have a look at it again.
Stuart Lockery:But I don't have that kind of discipline at the moment.
Stuart Lockery:Yeah.
Stuart Lockery:So I think it's, it's how I'm navigating the necessary marketing evil of Facebook.
Terry Cook:More than anything interesting because I know that's been one of mine this year, so I'll share my feels as well.
Terry Cook:So it's been a, an interesting year for me this year in terms of stuff going wrong because I think it's been a bit of a mix what everyone has said actually in that I don't think anything, one thing has gone disastrous.
Terry Cook:I think there's been lots of continual things.
Terry Cook:So my health, for example, mental and physical has just taken a kick in this year particular last six months or so.
Terry Cook: year since like the start of: Terry Cook:But you know, like Tom was saying about the positive come from.
Terry Cook:I had that panic attack an hour before I recorded a Green room episode and when I listened back to the green room episode you couldn't tell.
Terry Cook:It was like, oh, I did a good job there despite, you know, this happening.
Terry Cook:And so that was quite cool.
Terry Cook:The finances have been interesting for me as well.
Terry Cook:I've just seen that word wisely interesting in.
Terry Cook:There's been some really good wins financially for me this year and there's been some disaster.
Terry Cook:I've made some really, excuse my language, shit choices this year.
Terry Cook:I've started some projects that died on their ass, you know, that didn't go well.
Terry Cook:And I just think it's been a year where everything that's gone wrong, I've been able to, even the health stuff, a lot of that has come about from the way I treat my body.
Terry Cook:You know, it's not all of it has come about from.
Terry Cook:I've got this thing, it's come about from the way I treat my body.
Terry Cook:So yeah, it's been an interesting year for me.
Terry Cook:Fail wise.
Terry Cook:There's been lots of them but nothing that's maybe stood out above the rest.
Terry Cook:Maybe the health one.
Terry Cook:Actually I don't know.
Terry Cook:But yes.
Terry Cook:So there's some of my fails and I'm going to read this comment that's come up from from Gary says I'm to blame.
Terry Cook:I think this is regarding the Facebook thing.
Terry Cook:Your whole season has been around embracing tech.
Terry Cook:Your next season should be around rejecting tech.
Terry Cook:The next season is actually going to be around health.
Terry Cook:So you know, maybe we'll, we'll get on there and one of the episodes this season was about how to use tech for self care.
Terry Cook:So go and listen to that one again.
Terry Cook:Right, so let's have a look at some of the news because in quarter one some things happened in quarter one of this year and those things were part two and three tests.
Terry Cook:Waiting times continued to get worse.
Terry Cook:The AGI walk back kicked off.
Terry Cook:The 10 minute takeaway started on YouTube.
Terry Cook:Right.
Terry Cook:Coaching's PDA level seven kicked off.
Terry Cook:The Driving Instructor Tips podcast started.
Terry Cook:And on March 16th the third annual driving instructor Day took place, which was celebrated not only in the uk, but also in Australia, Americas and Switzerland by the likes of Stefan plus plus it was shared by organizations such as roadpeace and we buy anycar.com so driving instructors say big success this year, but it struck me looking back, there wasn't an awful lot of news, like dramatic news from that first quarter, but lots of things starting, oddly enough, for the first quarter of a year.
Terry Cook:So.
Terry Cook:So Stuart, I'm going to come to you with a question on this.
Terry Cook:So a little bit about bread coaching.
Terry Cook:You know how that's gone this year because I think that's been one of the biggest wins for our industry this year.
Terry Cook:But kind of just the news overall, everything stands out for you.
Terry Cook:Anything I've missed?
Terry Cook:Yeah.
Stuart Lockery:So I can talk about bike coaching and maybe a little bit later, I have some, I have some feels about that probably worth sharing with some of the people who are here.
Stuart Lockery: all the news that happened in: Stuart Lockery:So literally everything that happened at the start of the year was because of us and nobody else did anything.
Stuart Lockery:Is that what you're saying?
Terry Cook:There's a slight bias to my reporting.
Terry Cook:A slight bias to my reporting, but you know, whatever.
Stuart Lockery:Yeah, I mean, I guess picking up on part two, part three tests, I can maybe turn that into a positive because we've noticed in kind of Scotland, Glasgow, Edinburgh in particular, that that seems to be turning a corner now.
Stuart Lockery:So maybe that that's That's a positive thing.
Stuart Lockery:I don't know, I don't know why, but we're getting lots of cancellations coming up, you know, short notice test availability for part two and part three tests.
Stuart Lockery:I don't know if that's been mirrored up and down the rest of the country.
Stuart Lockery:Again, I don't, I don't know enough about the, the, the intricacies of how they allocate the examiners and all that kind of stuff.
Stuart Lockery:I probably do need to learn a little bit more about that, given recent circumstances, but it seems very positive.
Stuart Lockery:The PDIs who we've been speaking to have come into it with almost a bit worried by what they've been hearing on social media and they're almost kind of pleasantly surprised by it.
Stuart Lockery:So, yeah, I think that's a good thing.
Stuart Lockery:I like the, I like the Driving Instructor Day thing that you guys have started up.
Stuart Lockery:I think that's awesome.
Stuart Lockery:I think we should continue doing that.
Stuart Lockery:What were the other things that happened?
Terry Cook:It was all of our stuff that we'd done in that case.
Stuart Lockery:Yeah, I think it was all amazing.
Stuart Lockery:Yeah, yeah, I think we all did brilliantly.
Terry Cook:Yeah, there was other stuff that's gone on, but obviously I'm going to be biased towards the people on here, so.
Terry Cook:Tom, Chris, do you have any thoughts on quarter one that you want to share?
Chris Benstead:I think, you know, now the changes that Stuart was referring to are because there are actually ADI examiners coming in.
Chris Benstead:We suddenly, we were sat down having a Christmas breakfast with all of our driving school guys and the PDI's that were around the table, their phone started pinging with emails saying, here's some dates.
Chris Benstead:So, yeah, I think there's, there's been a bit of an improvement on that side of things.
Chris Benstead:But, yeah, no, I think, you know, for me, Walk Back was started with absolutely no expectations.
Chris Benstead:It was, it was just myself and a colleague sat down and he wanted to take the dog for a walk to talk to me instead of sit around the table because that's where he feels happiest.
Chris Benstead:I clearly feel happier sitting around a breakfast table and eating food.
Chris Benstead:But, you know, I, I, I aim to try and accommodate everybody.
Chris Benstead:So we were going to do it just locally and went, sod it, let's do it nationally.
Chris Benstead:And we've got a, there's a good few fewer out there that are doing it on a monthly basis and just forgetting everybody else in the country for a second.
Chris Benstead:What I love is that I have a new friend who comes along to every single Walk Back with me is an absolute wingman.
Chris Benstead:So thank you, Adam.
Chris Benstead:You.
Chris Benstead:You are an absolute trooper.
Chris Benstead:And he's shown me how important it is that, you know, he's really kind of.
Chris Benstead:It's hit the spot with him and he really appreciates it.
Chris Benstead:So hopefully that's happening in other places as well.
Chris Benstead:And, you know, other people are finding the same thing and people have got in touch.
Chris Benstead:I said, well, it's just me.
Chris Benstead:That's brilliant, because then when someone else needs it, you will be there.
Chris Benstead:So, you know, for me, probably biggest success of the year is that at least one person has been helped, which is that, you know, that I'm not going to ask for any more than that.
Chris Benstead:You know, if.
Chris Benstead:If there are more, and I know there are, then, you know, each one multiplies that over and over again.
Chris Benstead:So.
Chris Benstead:So that, that was, you know, worth chucking a random idea out there.
Chris Benstead:And I just want to point out that it doesn't fit a smart goal in any way, shape or form because it's not really measurable and it wasn't realistic at all.
Chris Benstead:And I love that.
Chris Benstead:So screw you, smart goals.
Terry Cook:I hate smart goals.
Terry Cook:But I will just say that I think the walk back is possibly, if not the only one of the very few things I've seen introduced into our industry that no one's bitched about.
Terry Cook:I find, you know, there's always stuff that people, even driving through the day, you know, there's people at the moment, what's this pointless nonsense sort of thing.
Terry Cook:But like, ADI Waterback.
Terry Cook:No one said that.
Terry Cook:So I think that's probably the biggest compliment anyone could pay it.
Terry Cook:But, Tom, have you got anything to add or anything you want to mention regarding quarter one?
Tom Stenson:I would like to mention Driving Instructor Day, because both myself and Penny share birthdays on the 16th of March as well, so hooray for us.
Tom Stenson:Yeah, I mean, the part two, part three thing does seem to be changing a little bit in our area.
Tom Stenson:Like Stuart said, there's more cancellations coming up.
Tom Stenson:Although, looking at the positives, I have kind of liked not being able to get part twos and threes so soon because I've kind of used that as a benefit for trainees to go look at all the time.
Tom Stenson:You've got to actually learn and put into practice some of this, you know, you haven't got to rush through it now.
Tom Stenson:And although I try and live in an ideal world, not everybody sees it like that, but, you know, look for the positives.
Terry Cook:Yeah, can I just.
Stuart Lockery:Can I.
Stuart Lockery:Can I just back that up?
Stuart Lockery:Just to add on to that something that we started doing as a result of the lack of tests was just really being on top of every single PDI as soon as they passed the part one.
Stuart Lockery:Right, let's go bang.
Stuart Lockery:Overlapping part one and part two.
Stuart Lockery:Overlapping part two and part three, and let's get on to part three as soon as possible.
Stuart Lockery:You know, circumstances allowing.
Stuart Lockery:And then that's something we're just going to keep doing because of that reason that you've mentioned, Tom, just more time with them so that they're not starting part three with like eight months left of the whole process, which is a situation we probably used to find ourselves in more than we should.
Stuart Lockery:So, yeah, definitely some good things to come out of that.
Terry Cook:So, yeah, that.
Terry Cook:That failure of part two and part three has led to some positives.
Terry Cook:So I like that.
Terry Cook: one or some of your wins from: Terry Cook:What's gone well for you this year?
Tom Stenson:What's gone well?
Terry Cook:You're less enthusiastic about this one than my pain.
Tom Stenson:No, no, Because I'm trying to pick something that really kind of stands out.
Tom Stenson:But I do feel like I've had lots of good wins this year.
Tom Stenson:I suppose one that is nothing to do with driving instruction or our industry at all is I.
Tom Stenson:I purchased my first electric mountain bike and I just.
Tom Stenson:I'm really annoyed that I didn't do it about 10 years ago.
Terry Cook:I don't know how to respond to that.
Stuart Lockery:Sounds about walk to me.
Terry Cook:Yeah, I was thinking walk.
Terry Cook:Yeah, definitely.
Chris Benstead:It sounds really good.
Tom Stenson:Oh, very good.
Terry Cook:You fit in well on the green room with these kind of walk winds, Tom.
Terry Cook:It's all good.
Terry Cook:All right, Stuart, can you beat an electric mountain bike for your wins this year?
Stuart Lockery:Listen, it's just going to be bright coaching, guys.
Stuart Lockery:I'm really sorry it's the obvious thing, but bike coaching has been amazing for us just to have spent so much time on it and to see it work and to come through and get so much support for it and the industry is obviously really embarrassing in many, many ways, but it has to be the win.
Stuart Lockery:Met so many amazing people who I would never have met otherwise.
Stuart Lockery:But the biggest thing is just seeing the work being done that the driving instructors have taken away and doing in car and then coming back and telling us all about it, it's been just.
Stuart Lockery:It's been validating and just seeing the whole thing come to life.
Stuart Lockery:It's not came to life in the way that I thought it would come to life, but it came to life in a slightly different way.
Stuart Lockery:But that's okay because I can't control everything.
Terry Cook:But, yeah, it's been amazing.
Stuart Lockery:It's been awesome.
Stuart Lockery:I'm really pleased with it.
Stuart Lockery:Humble brag.
Stuart Lockery:That's me done, I think.
Terry Cook:I mean, I've met fully aware my.
Terry Cook:My thoughts on Bryce coaching and, and how impressed I'm with Amber.
Terry Cook:I think the thing that I almost like the most is how I don't know what the right word is.
Terry Cook:I want to say implicit you are with things.
Terry Cook:Rather than coming out and saying, you need to do this, this, and this and rah, rah, rah.
Terry Cook:You're just giving it as an option and saying, this is what I believe we should be doing, and you back it up.
Terry Cook:You know, I'm not saying you just chuck it out there, run away, but it never feels like it's shoved down anyone's throat and like someone is wrong for not following the things that you're putting out there.
Chris Benstead:Yeah, yeah.
Stuart Lockery:And sure.
Stuart Lockery:I mean, that, that, that, that.
Stuart Lockery:That's always been a name.
Stuart Lockery:Can you have that as a name?
Stuart Lockery:Not to be kind of out there all the time and just forcing it down people's thoughts?
Stuart Lockery:I don't know.
Stuart Lockery:But the, the qualification, when I said earlier on that it's not.
Stuart Lockery:It's came to life in a way that I didn't quite envisage.
Stuart Lockery:It's been slightly different.
Stuart Lockery:I think that's possibly linked to what you're referring to and that it's not for everyone.
Stuart Lockery:This content is not for everyone.
Stuart Lockery:Not every driver instructor at this moment in time feels the calling to become a qualified coach.
Stuart Lockery:Not every driver instructor believes that coaching is the way forward to become better driver trainers.
Stuart Lockery:And that's absolutely fine because those driving instructors are not the market for brake coaching.
Stuart Lockery:Not to mention the fact that the vast majority of driving instructors probably don't want a professional qualification after they've passed part three.
Stuart Lockery:That's never been the point of it.
Stuart Lockery:The point was to create something for the people who do want that kind of stuff.
Stuart Lockery:So, yeah, I get a bit embarrassed talking about it on the green room when you give me so much airtime on the instructor podcast.
Stuart Lockery:So, yeah, I'm not very comfortable talking about it.
Terry Cook:Well, speaking of things not comfortable, I was about to say, I like that, and then I remembered that you pointed out that I say that quite a lot.
Terry Cook:And now I'm really paranoid.
Terry Cook:Paranoid about seeing.
Terry Cook:Oh, I thought so.
Stuart Lockery:So sorry.
Stuart Lockery:I'm so sorry.
Terry Cook:Thanks for that.
Terry Cook:All right, Chris, what.
Terry Cook:What are your wins from this year?
Chris Benstead:I'm going to start with having had a baby.
Chris Benstead:Not personally.
Chris Benstead:You know, I was involved in the process and, and that she's awesome and everything else, because otherwise I might forget and then I'll be in trouble.
Chris Benstead:But, yeah, she is like, it's scarily perfect and sleeping and smiling and that's all she does.
Chris Benstead:And, yeah, that's all good.
Chris Benstead:So, yeah, so that's awesome.
Chris Benstead:Well done, Lottie.
Chris Benstead:You're doing well.
Chris Benstead:I.
Chris Benstead:On the more important stuff, me, the, the, the fact that I'm engaging with the DVSA as a theory stakeholder, which I didn't know is a thing really, and the, the changes that are happening with the theory test, although they're not happening where we need them to yet, but the, the awareness of theory is, Is up there.
Chris Benstead:That's been awesome this, this year.
Chris Benstead:And I know, really thank everybody for their, their, their faith in me on that because people will tag me in pretty much anything on Facebook that says theory, and I love that.
Chris Benstead:Thank you.
Chris Benstead:Because they didn't have to.
Chris Benstead:So.
Chris Benstead:So that I really appreciate and I feel that's a win.
Chris Benstead:And then with my grade, Grade A course, the, the part three focus, I've had a record number of people who have failed multiple times who've come along and then knocked it out the park.
Chris Benstead:So, you know, after two hours on Zoom, they've gone and had a better understanding of it and I've now got a better understanding of the problem.
Chris Benstead:So, you know, that that's also a win, I think.
Chris Benstead:Yeah, I, I've been.
Chris Benstead:It's been a really positive year.
Chris Benstead:It's just been positive in little bits and, you know, it's.
Chris Benstead:Yeah, I think sometimes that's nice.
Chris Benstead:Sometimes it's nice not to have a one big thing that all the focus was on because it doesn't matter if one little thing goes wrong.
Terry Cook:Well, a couple of things I want to touch back on there.
Terry Cook:I'm going to start off with, with you having a shroud because it amuses me that I brought it up during the fail section and you told me off, but then you bring it up by saying, I better mention this or I'll get told if I don't.
Terry Cook:So I think I feel slightly better about that.
Terry Cook:But I don't know, I just think that that that grade A course.
Terry Cook:I don't.
Terry Cook:This, this almost amuses me slightly that you barely promote that is a standards check course.
Terry Cook:Isn't a standards check course, but it helps you become a grade A and you barely promote that.
Terry Cook:I've heard this phrase used about me before.
Terry Cook:Actually, and I don't think it applies.
Terry Cook: k that I, one of my goals for: Terry Cook:Even if you decide not to.
Terry Cook:I'm going to promote that on your behalf and make people come to you.
Chris Benstead:It's because I don't want to be a trainer.
Chris Benstead:I've, I've always said helping me plug.
Terry Cook:It, that's not helping me.
Chris Benstead:It's, it's.
Chris Benstead:No, it's like the secret menu, isn't it?
Chris Benstead:It's, it's that thing.
Chris Benstead:It is.
Chris Benstead:I, I love it when, when, when it's the right answer to a question, I will provide it and I always get people getting in touch and, you know, having a look at it and some decide to do it, some don't.
Chris Benstead:And I think it's probably the best thing that I've put together, excluding the kids.
Chris Benstead:So, yeah, I think it's awesome and I think it works really well.
Chris Benstead:And I've said, I've seen, seen it, you know, when people have done it and it just helps everything make sense and removes all of the BS from the, the process because they've been given all this information and got drowned with it and sometimes they need a bit of a life, life raft and just things need simplifying because when you're sat, even on a lesson, not just on a test, you know, the focus is that every lesson should match the test or should be test appropriate.
Chris Benstead:But it's so easy to be spinning so many plates and it's, it's nice to not have to.
Chris Benstead:So yes, it's on my secret menu.
Chris Benstead:If anyone wants to get in touch about it, they're welcome to, but I'm not going to shout about it at all.
Chris Benstead:You can.
Terry Cook:Well, a slight divergence of topic here.
Terry Cook:There's a reason why I record these lives and I encourage people to come along live.
Terry Cook:And part of it is because of the chat and I'm not going to repeat this because I want to adjust this, but Tom Thompson has put on the best comments I've ever seen.
Terry Cook:So well done for that.
Terry Cook:But I will just say that I know these three guys personally have achieved so much more than what they've said there.
Terry Cook:They probably don't want to talk about it, whatever.
Terry Cook:But the thing I will say is I've seen firsthand the impact that these three chaps have had on individuals in the industry.
Terry Cook:The difference they've made with people within the industry, not just through the trading but through content if you like to put out and through the way they are.
Terry Cook:See what Stuart and Tom have done at the ADI NJC for example and and Chris obviously with the idea what back and I mentioned earlier but I know the impact that's had.
Terry Cook:So yeah, I wanted to take a moment just to give you guys a bit more of a big up because I don't think you did it enough there because I'm about to pick me up quite a lot here.
Terry Cook:So I didn't want to feel left out because I as much as this year has been really poor in a lot worse for me, I kind of give a big list before there has been a lot of little wins.
Terry Cook:So for me the podcast and the premium has continued to grow.
Terry Cook:And by that I don't necessarily mean numbers, I mean grow in other ways.
Terry Cook:I think that the content I've created this year has been the best content, the best quality, the best spot out content I've created over the years I've been doing this.
Terry Cook:The I've continued to innovate within that scope with different the road safety stuff, the one minute instructor tips, the the, the the season I did what they call in conversation with Willora Morris, that one off stuff.
Terry Cook:I was invited to join the NGSE committee.
Terry Cook:I was invited to become a member of the IMTD and it's one I'm no longer very very recently I'm no longer on the prowl.
Terry Cook:But I think my biggest win for this year is and I contradict myself because I've done it several times on this episode I have reduced my urms.
Terry Cook:I made a conscious effort at the start of this year to reduce my urms on the podcast and they have gone down significantly.
Terry Cook:There's even been a couple of hour long episodes this year I've done when there hasn't been a single urm.
Terry Cook:And I don't think there's a better achievement than that.
Stuart Lockery:Well done mate.
Stuart Lockery:Well done mate.
Stuart Lockery:That's a good one.
Stuart Lockery:That's a good one.
Stuart Lockery:I struggle with arms all the time presenting.
Stuart Lockery:Yes, it's tough.
Terry Cook:It's when you're thinking about somewhere and you feel uncomfortable thinking about it.
Terry Cook:So you feel the silence.
Terry Cook:You've got to embrace the silence.
Terry Cook:And it's what I did just then and it's something it's really, really difficult to get over.
Terry Cook:But you've got to accept that that silence is going to be there.
Terry Cook:But anyway, that's a tip to nearly did it then.
Terry Cook:That's a tip to improve to to minimize your Embrace of silence.
Terry Cook:So let's move on quarter two, bit more kind of specific news.
Terry Cook:So examiners returned to the office.
Terry Cook:They'd been out delivering driving tests and they're now back to the office.
Terry Cook:And there was also the road piece challenge which was honoring the 1,766 people that died on UK roads.
Terry Cook:Les Hopkinson, who was along this night, he was raising money for that back in May.
Terry Cook:And I joined Les heading down somewhere.
Terry Cook:I always forget where to do the final mile with lots of amazing people from.
Terry Cook:From roadpeace, which was.
Terry Cook:I always struggle to find the words for that.
Terry Cook:Inspiring and emotional and all that kind of stuff.
Terry Cook:Also the road safety season of the other podcast, which when I spoke before about the content I was creating, that's the single best thing I've ever done.
Terry Cook:And possibly most important, we also had the Intelligent instructor and NJC convention that was in quarter two.
Terry Cook:We had the MSA conference which took a slightly different road.
Terry Cook:And I like this, we spoke about it at the time, Chris.
Terry Cook:They had G Sabini Robertson talking about diversity, which if anyone wants to hear more from G, you can go back to season one of the podcast.
Terry Cook:But I love that they went down that road.
Terry Cook:And also it was the point where DVSA limited the number of times ADIs can swap tests online.
Terry Cook:So there we go.
Terry Cook:So I'll come to you first, Chris, on that one.
Terry Cook:Anything you want to comment on or anything I potentially missed on Core 2?
Chris Benstead:No, I'm still processing it.
Chris Benstead:So, yeah, I.
Chris Benstead:The only thing that stood out for me was when all of the DVSA staff moved away from the front line again.
Chris Benstead:Retreated, I think it's officially termed as when they do that.
Chris Benstead:And I then got drowned by people dealing with letters about DVSA complaints because they hadn't been addressed for ages.
Chris Benstead:So I had loads of people phoning up with mass panic because they got these very stern sounding letters from the, from the dvsa, I believe.
Chris Benstead:All of which were then dismissed, you know, on the next letter.
Chris Benstead:It wasn't.
Chris Benstead:None of them were major issues and it's totally right, the DBSA addressing them, but there was just a, you know, they'd obviously gone through the inbox when they got back to the office and there was suddenly a, a tsunami of emails and letters coming out from the dbsa.
Chris Benstead:I.
Chris Benstead:Yeah, I think, you know, that that was the, the big thing of at that moment in time.
Chris Benstead:The other one is, is the fact that you can't move tests as much online, but you can if you phone up.
Chris Benstead:So it doesn't matter anyway.
Chris Benstead:But I think that then probably did what it needed to of putting some kind of restrictions in place about, you know, what's going on with tests being sold and everything else, although it's not illegal.
Chris Benstead:And I'm waiting to hear when there's actually some kind of measure against it.
Chris Benstead:So, you know, I, I, I sit on the fence on that one.
Chris Benstead:I don't think it's morally right, but that's different, you know, if people are willing to pay.
Terry Cook:It's, it's interesting because one of the things I do in preparation for this ending episode is I go back and listen to every green room we've done.
Terry Cook:And to hear us talk about this throughout the year has been fascinating because there's never been a big shift in opinion.
Terry Cook:You can hear the opinion evolve slightly over time as we discuss it.
Terry Cook:And I think I've changed to what you said there.
Terry Cook:Now it's like it's not morally right.
Terry Cook:It's not something I do in terms of selling tests and stuff.
Terry Cook:But is it wrong?
Terry Cook:I don't know what the answer to that is because legally they can do.
Terry Cook:It's an interesting one, but I'm going to come to you next time because you have a driving school, so obviously your instructors will have to book tests.
Terry Cook:When the examiners went back to work, went back to the office, did you notice all of a sudden that tests were harder to come by?
Tom Stenson:I think we've been quite lucky actually, in kind of our areas.
Tom Stenson:I wouldn't say that there's been a huge sort of change from when they retreated to when they've, they've come back again.
Tom Stenson:But again, I kind of convinced all my instructors of looking at the bright side of things again there just to plug.
Tom Stenson:Stuart thought I'd use the bright side to sort of say to pupils, well, okay, we've just got to change our business a little bit.
Tom Stenson:If we have to wait six months to get a test, that's fine.
Tom Stenson:We'd just make sure that people get lots of practice in, which is hopefully going to be more beneficial later on down the line and helps us pay our mortgages for another six months, you know.
Tom Stenson:But the good side, is there anything.
Terry Cook:Else you want to touch on from quarter to anything else?
Terry Cook:I'll start out for you.
Tom Stenson:Other than actually what I thought the convention that we had in May, I thought that was a real success.
Tom Stenson:And the sort of feedback that we got was how nice it was to have something a little bit smaller and a bit more personal for people, which again, I think is nicer for for our industry because it is a big thing and people often talk about how lonely it can be.
Tom Stenson:So I think being able to spend a day with the same amount of people was really nice.
Tom Stenson:So yeah, I see that as a positive as well for us.
Terry Cook:I love that I've spoke about this on the show before, but that was my favorite CPD thing I've done in a long time.
Terry Cook:It was just so enjoyable being able to liaise with the people in a different way.
Terry Cook:When we go to the Expo in September, I get to meet you guys and I get to have chat with Chris face to face, which is rare and I get hugs off people.
Terry Cook:But to actually, to be able to God, this is the wrong phrase.
Terry Cook:Spend the evening with people and then do what we do the next day.
Terry Cook:It's just, I don't know.
Terry Cook:One of my favorite things definitely.
Terry Cook:So I'm glad you've raised.
Terry Cook:I really enjoyed that one but I'm going to move on to for your thoughts.
Terry Cook:One thing I will say before I do kind of Tom touched on it there Always look on the bright side of life and bright ideas.
Terry Cook:If you ever want to start a series on these rut the Podcast Premium.
Terry Cook:There's two titles for you there that I'd be happy for you to use at any point.
Terry Cook:Just just throwing out there, but I Is there anything that stands out from you?
Stuart Lockery:For quarter two, I was going to go with the convention, I think for many, many reasons, but obviously we're involved in the organizing of these events as well and the running of them on the day.
Stuart Lockery:And also we were fortunate enough, Tom and I, to to be presenting on the day and people think that we get asked to present because we're on the governing committee.
Stuart Lockery:That's not the case.
Stuart Lockery:There are a certain number of spots on the day and Richard and Lyn kind of decide to give everyone a really good variety of who they want to listen to.
Stuart Lockery:But comparing the convention to the Expo as an organizer and all that kind of thing, it was just so much calmer I felt.
Stuart Lockery:At the Expo you go into different seminar rooms and quite often the rooms are full and driving instructors get really annoyed because this is the person that they really wanted to see.
Stuart Lockery:And we're having to close the doors because the seminar rooms are full and you just don't get any of that.
Stuart Lockery:And it's a lot calmer for the people who are presenting as well because there's not people coming in and out 10 minutes after you've started and you're losing Your train of thought.
Stuart Lockery:So it was just a.
Stuart Lockery:It's a terrible word, but it was just nice, you know, it was just calm.
Stuart Lockery:It was.
Stuart Lockery:It felt very grown up and it felt like a.
Stuart Lockery:It felt like a proper confidence should feel as opposed to the Expo, which is good from an energy, high energy kind of perspective.
Stuart Lockery:Yeah, I think the convention was, was excellent.
Stuart Lockery:I liked the fact that the academics were very well represented.
Stuart Lockery:That's something that we try and do at the NGC Scotland Conference.
Stuart Lockery:Slightly embarrassing.
Stuart Lockery:I had to.
Stuart Lockery:I was given like.
Stuart Lockery:How long was it?
Stuart Lockery:35, 35 minutes to talk about driver psychology and Liz Box got 15.
Stuart Lockery:So Richard Stalls, if you're watching, you need to kind of sort that out and I'm happy to take 15 and just give Liz Box the headline spot, which is what we've done for the NGC Scotland Conference next year.
Stuart Lockery:Liz Box is our headline speaker next year.
Stuart Lockery:But yeah, good to see the academics talking about loads of different things on stage.
Stuart Lockery:Ian Edwards was there as well.
Stuart Lockery:Yeah, that was.
Stuart Lockery:I think I'm with you, Terry.
Stuart Lockery: That was my highlight of: Terry Cook:Liz Box, the second best person.
Terry Cook:It's going to be the Scotland Conference next year, so.
Stuart Lockery:Yeah, the second best, yeah, yeah, definitely.
Terry Cook:But no, that was the thing for me there as well as the speakers, because normally when I go to those types of events, part of the reason I dislike them is because I'm forced to sit down and listen to all these people talk.
Terry Cook:But there was some really good variety there.
Terry Cook:You know, you mentioned all this Box.
Terry Cook:We had Ian Edwards and Mirin around there and it was just.
Terry Cook:I liked that, you know, even the DVC were there, which I didn't have a problem with, but because they were mixed in with these different things, it wasn't just sit down and listen to us talk to you about the standards check for a day.
Terry Cook:It was all this different stuff.
Terry Cook:And, and I love that.
Terry Cook:And yeah, I hope that continues.
Terry Cook:I hope that not just in the convention, but also the Scottish Convention, like you've said of other, you know, conferences are available.
Terry Cook:So I hope that that continues.
Terry Cook:I am going to mention one thing and I've only just thought of this, but I think it's worth seeing because I just mentioned her there.
Terry Cook:Mary in Iran.
Terry Cook:So for those that don't know, Mary in Iran is a massive road safety campaigner that's made some big differences and she started campaigning after she lost her son in a, in a, in a collision.
Terry Cook:And I'm going to say this because she recently lost her other son as well, who sadly died.
Terry Cook:And so, yeah, you know, if you want to take a moment, send your condolences to issues, you find your own LinkedIn.
Terry Cook:And it was really heartbreaking to read that recently, actually, you know, looking at what, what's happened.
Terry Cook:But, but yeah, absolutely.
Terry Cook:Lovely person that's done a tremendous amount of good work.
Terry Cook:And, and I just, I don't know if I was.
Terry Cook:It was right to mention that there.
Terry Cook:But yeah, so take a moment to, to think of other people sometimes and what other people are going through.
Terry Cook:But let's, let's move on because I want to move on.
Terry Cook: ged you about our industry in: Stuart Lockery:Yeah, quite a few things I didn't actually realize I sat down to write this.
Stuart Lockery:So I think quite often we talk about good things in the industry and we talk about some of the PDIs we see coming into the, into the industry.
Stuart Lockery:And it can be, I guess, sometimes we're in a little bit of danger of kind of generalizing that all these PDIs are coming in, they're all going to be brilliant and all that kind of stuff.
Stuart Lockery:It seems to me that every year through conferences or through the NGC or through Caledonian or specifically through Bright, I just meet, really, every year I meet maybe four or five new people who.
Stuart Lockery:I just know the.
Stuart Lockery:They just get it.
Stuart Lockery:And I would struggle to kind of widen my vocabulary around that.
Stuart Lockery:But just every year, four or five people who just get it, they're joining the industry for the right reasons, you know, that they're not going to be distracted by all the kind of BS that goes on on social media.
Stuart Lockery:And I'm not taking any credit for any of these people at all, but through the conferences or Caledonia or anything, they're just the right kind of people that we want to see in the industry.
Stuart Lockery:I hope that's not been.
Stuart Lockery:Yeah, anyway, just, just the, the good people who I probably caught up, hopefully I'm able to call friends now over the past few years.
Stuart Lockery:So that's, that's been really good.
Stuart Lockery:Not hundreds, because I can't handle that many friends.
Stuart Lockery:I'm an introvert, but enough to kind of help me keep the faith and what we're all kind of trying to do other things.
Stuart Lockery:We've had some really good people join the NGC governing committee that has been extremely positive.
Stuart Lockery:Not just yourself, Terry.
Stuart Lockery:We've had a couple of really strong driving instructors, representatives from local associations joined the governing committee recently.
Stuart Lockery:And that's that.
Stuart Lockery:That's excellent.
Stuart Lockery:It's really encouraging on a kind of national basis.
Stuart Lockery:Just people who want to.
Stuart Lockery:We've.
Stuart Lockery:We've spoken before about people who mourn, about associations and, you know, just what's the point in mourning about it?
Stuart Lockery:If you don't think something's working properly, then do something about it and join and see what happens.
Stuart Lockery:So that's been encouraging.
Stuart Lockery:Other things that have been good milestones, I'm quite interested in.
Stuart Lockery:Chris, I know you work with Carly a little bit on milestones and doing a lot of work there.
Stuart Lockery:I'm quite excited to see what happens with that next year.
Stuart Lockery:I tried to sign up, but I'm not a driving instructor in terms of pupils and all that kind of stuff, so I'm going to roll that out to the Caledonian team.
Stuart Lockery:And then one of the other big things has been Copilot, which is the kind of brainchild of James Evans and Liz Box and another chap whose name I forget, apologies.
Stuart Lockery:And that Copilot is a really good community for road safety practitioners and it's a lot more kind of modern and up to date and just useful than something like road safety gb.
Stuart Lockery:I'm a corporate member of Road Safety gb and to be honest, I'm not sure I'll be renewing.
Stuart Lockery:I think I'm going to stick with Copilot.
Stuart Lockery:So for people like.
Stuart Lockery:For people like us who disseminate information throughout the industry, Copilot is something that's just really good to be involved in.
Stuart Lockery:And it's like a library of not just research papers and articles, but just a really good network of people you can call on and ask for advice as well.
Stuart Lockery:I've not been as active on it the second half of this year as I'd like to be, but next year I've got.
Stuart Lockery:I plan to be really active on there and stealing all the content for social and sharing the good stuff with driving instructors.
Stuart Lockery:It's the stuff what they're doing, it's the stuff that the DVSA should be giving us as a regulator.
Stuart Lockery:No, nobody's asking them to train us, but as a regulator they should be part, maybe responsible for disseminating.
Stuart Lockery:But I think James is going to do it far better than the dvsa.
Stuart Lockery:Yeah, so that's.
Stuart Lockery:That's been really encouraging.
Stuart Lockery:That's my encouraging things.
Terry Cook:Some good stuff there.
Terry Cook:And I want to touch back on Copilot because I think I'm.
Terry Cook:I'm with you on that.
Terry Cook:I think it's a wonderful resource, I really do.
Terry Cook:And, and I would encourage any Adi maybe not the best phrasing.
Terry Cook:Who's got a spare couple hundred quid to sign up to it?
Terry Cook:It's maybe not the thing you prioritize, you know there's other things that are more important to a working driving instructor but if you can spare 20 quid a month or you know it's 100 quid a year roughly, do it.
Terry Cook:And just to clarify, There is a 5% discount for driving instructors and if anyone needs a link I'll put it in show notes.
Terry Cook:So if you can't find it, reach out to me.
Terry Cook:James Evans pestered him for that.
Terry Cook:I mean it came back with 5% which wasn't bigger discount as I expect him but I just think it is great.
Terry Cook:I mean I don't know if anyone heard it but the episode I recorded with Nick Reed recently that came after seeing his presentation on Copilot and I love the way that the.
Terry Cook:The course over there are broken down.
Terry Cook:They're not like one hour recyc.
Terry Cook:It's all broke down little chapters and stuff on it and it's great for networking.
Terry Cook:So would, would you encourage driving instructors to sign up Stu or would it be a similar thing to me of maybe not you high on a priority list but still good?
Stuart Lockery:I don't know, Terry, I really don't know.
Stuart Lockery:I think it's probably.
Stuart Lockery:I mean don't let me talk you out of it.
Stuart Lockery:If you want to go and support them, then by all means, please do.
Stuart Lockery:You're basically getting a direct link to Lizbox.
Stuart Lockery:You can ask her questions directly.
Stuart Lockery:Maybe it's worth it just for that alone.
Stuart Lockery:I think it's.
Stuart Lockery:I think James Evans said it's probably not for driving instructors, didn't he?
Stuart Lockery:I didn't make that up kind of.
Terry Cook:And I'll just chip inside there because what he said is that he will shape the order needs to be shaped so if he gets the influx of driving instructors he will create more content for while driving instructors.
Stuart Lockery:So I feel at the moment the stuff that's there, it's for the trainers and I think the associations could benefit from it as well and then we can disseminate that information as needs be.
Stuart Lockery:Yeah, interesting to see.
Stuart Lockery:I mean I've not really given that much thought about how you could shape it for driving instructors because I don't think it's a cost issue as such.
Stuart Lockery:I think it's a time, you know, how much time do driving instructors have to sit down and read four research articles a week?
Stuart Lockery:Yeah, probably not, not the vast majority of Them.
Terry Cook: hat I'll be utilizing more in: Terry Cook:I don't they call like a catch up and a Q and a kind of thing a couple hours on a Friday.
Terry Cook:I think that could be quite interesting.
Terry Cook:But I love that some, lots of encouraging stuff there.
Terry Cook:Chris, come to you next.
Terry Cook:What, what's impressed you?
Stuart Lockery:What's encouraged you?
Chris Benstead:From this year I've seen a couple of changes in the, the landscape of the industry, if you like.
Chris Benstead:So I think going back to when I first came into being an instructor 16 years ago, you found out about the industry by looking at the test center wall.
Chris Benstead:They'd only let the associations put stuff on the test center wall.
Chris Benstead:So you only heard what the associations were doing that way, you know, if you remember, you might get a magazine that you may or may not read.
Chris Benstead:And you know, and that was kind of it.
Chris Benstead:Facebook's come along and as much as Stuart hates it, I, you know, there is a, a set section of the industry because we have to remember it's not everybody.
Chris Benstead:There's a section of the industry that really has engaged with Facebook and I think that we've finally got to the point where there's a really strong platform for people to be found on, you know, through the likes of the instructor podcast, you know, by trainers being able to be out there and have a Persona and that you can identify who they are, you get to know them a bit better depending on how well they use social media.
Chris Benstead:And again, it's not all trainers, but there's been this, this, you know, real sort of development of things where it, it wasn't the same few names being mentioned.
Chris Benstead:Things have grown.
Chris Benstead:It's given opportunities to new people coming through to stretch their legs and do that sort of thing.
Chris Benstead:I'm really interested in where that goes next and I'll come back to that because the other thing that I've really noticed is the number of PDIs that have been engaging and have been, you know, putting a lot of us to shame.
Chris Benstead:I think in the way that they've gone out there and, and grabbed, I grabbed CPD by the horns, been hungry for stuff, have called out some crap which is really good.
Chris Benstead:I think we need to get better at that and you know, have really gone out there and challenged people and encouraged them to do more.
Chris Benstead:So the, you know, those two things I think are real positives.
Chris Benstead:That then brings me onto the thing that I want to see where it goes next, which is the number of people that are coming to me that are now saying, there's all this stuff, where do I start, what's right for me, how do I find the right path?
Chris Benstead:Is it good just because people are saying it's good on Facebook, you know, or is it going to confuse me?
Chris Benstead:Especially in the early days, you know, you can't always appeal to PDIs and ADIs in the same measure.
Chris Benstead:I think people often do, because we're trying to be all things to all people because we're told to be.
Chris Benstead:DVSA tell us to be our trainers tell us to be, you know, it's all about being client centered and therefore you appeal to everybody.
Chris Benstead:Well, it's fine on a one to one basis, but it's not necessarily, you know, when you're working with a wider scope, so.
Chris Benstead:Or in groups.
Chris Benstead:So I want to see where that goes next.
Chris Benstead:ADI and JC go for it.
Chris Benstead:Would love to, you know, to have some kind of recognition for trainers that are out there.
Chris Benstead:I know we're working on things with the DITC to list things a bit more and kind of, you know, try and encourage some feedback.
Chris Benstead:But I think, yeah, that's something I'm very aware of and I can see that becoming a problem in the future because from a good thing, lots of people have up their game, lots of people are striking out to do more and that, that's awesome.
Chris Benstead:But we need to then make sure that we're not suffering from, you know, training where it's being.
Chris Benstead:What's the word?
Chris Benstead:Begins with a C.
Chris Benstead:Is it cascade?
Chris Benstead:Not crap.
Chris Benstead:Not.
Chris Benstead:No, the.
Chris Benstead:Not crap training, but where it gets filtered down.
Chris Benstead:Cascade training.
Chris Benstead:And I think that that's, you know, for me that's, that's the thing that we just need to be really aware of is, you know, is it coming from somewhere good?
Chris Benstead:Is it coming from.
Chris Benstead:From strong foundations and we've got some, some awesome people.
Chris Benstead:We keep mentioning Elizabeth Box.
Chris Benstead:There's.
Chris Benstead:There are others out there.
Chris Benstead:She's just too lovely.
Chris Benstead:That's the problem.
Chris Benstead:And, But I was talking to the not so lovely Sean Hellman at the DAA conference.
Stuart Lockery:He's.
Chris Benstead:He's a lovely bloke, he is.
Stuart Lockery:Alex.
Stuart Lockery:Sean.
Terry Cook:Yeah, he's.
Chris Benstead:No, I just remember and he has apologized since.
Chris Benstead:When he, When I first encountered Sean, it was because he was saying, I don't care who the driving instructor is, they've just got to sit there next to my son and let him get the hours that he needs.
Chris Benstead:Uh, he's Softened.
Chris Benstead:He, he likes us a bit more now.
Chris Benstead:He, he's seeing the error of his ways.
Chris Benstead:It's all good.
Chris Benstead:He, he's, he's a good guy.
Chris Benstead:But no, there, there's others out there and, and I think we're getting closer to working together and, and that's really good as well.
Chris Benstead:So we need to embrace that and understand that.
Chris Benstead:And at the moment it's a bit offset between our understanding and, and what's being delivered.
Chris Benstead:And we need to fight, figure out ways.
Chris Benstead:To me, I'm really excited for the next year or so.
Chris Benstead:We'll say next year because then we could talk about it next, next December, can't we.
Stuart Lockery:Can I ask you a question on that, Chris?
Stuart Lockery:Are you talking about.
Stuart Lockery:I think what you're talking about is we've got to be careful that the.
Terry Cook:Training that's being delivered and the advice.
Stuart Lockery:That'S being given is actually kind of like evidence based, to borrow a phrase from the psychologists.
Stuart Lockery:Is that what you mean?
Chris Benstead:I don't necessarily think it needs to be evidence based because I think sometimes what we do isn't because it's our own, it's our own experience of it and we work in an industry where you can suck it and see and you can see if you get a positive response for it.
Chris Benstead:Brilliant.
Chris Benstead:I think what we then often do is we do it the other way around.
Chris Benstead:We do that and then we go to find out, or we should go to find out why does it work and then find the evidence to back it up.
Chris Benstead:So I think sometimes by saying evidence based, it's that we've got to have the evidence first.
Chris Benstead:Actually, it's perfectly fine to go.
Chris Benstead:This has worked really well.
Chris Benstead:Now, let's, let's, let's establish why, because that's often where a lot of instructors, I'd probably say the majority come from that side of that education bell curve where it's not necessarily about the academic, it's about the practical side of the teaching.
Chris Benstead:And I think, yeah, just coming from there.
Chris Benstead:But I'm really pleased that hopefully is building from both sides and we're going to meet somewhere in the middle that is more positive and is stronger for everyone and doesn't include the dbsa.
Terry Cook:The first bit that you said there, I like and I agree with that.
Terry Cook:It does overlap slightly into my negatives for the year, so I'll touch back on that shortly.
Terry Cook:But I like what you were saying as well about the quality of some of the PDIs.
Terry Cook:Not just the PDIs, but the ADIs that are out there.
Terry Cook:Now and in particular calling stuff out, that's not good.
Terry Cook:And I like that.
Terry Cook:You know, I've spoke about this before, that a lot of my members in the querying content will challenge on stuff.
Terry Cook:Not in an unpleasant way, but they'll question stuff and they won't just go, oh, Terry said this or so and so said this, so this must be right.
Terry Cook:They'll, they'll question it.
Terry Cook:And I like that.
Terry Cook:And I don't always think that's there.
Terry Cook:I think it used to be a bit more the people that accepted everything and the people that rejected everything and now we're getting more people are actually having a thought process.
Terry Cook:You agree with that?
Chris Benstead:Yes, sorry, yeah, yeah, no, I, I, I think that's, yeah, it is more thinking people coming through and that's got to be a good thing.
Chris Benstead:Except when you're the person being challenged.
Chris Benstead:Yes.
Chris Benstead:And like, that's my dad.
Tom Stenson:Yeah.
Chris Benstead:No, I, I, I'm all for people challenging me in, in a positive way and it's so much nicer.
Chris Benstead:And actually that's a change I've seen.
Chris Benstead:I get less of the, well, that's just stupid comment on Facebook and actually people saying, well, what about this?
Chris Benstead:And you know, we should bring back debate societies.
Chris Benstead:I think that's, you know, there's not enough of those around.
Chris Benstead:That's what we should, that's what we should have.
Chris Benstead:And in a way that's what we have with six for 60 is, is, you know, a group of trainers debating a point and it's good when we disagree.
Terry Cook:But I've been saying this for a while that I keep meaning to create a show that is a debate type show called Contra 4 Conversations, just so I can use that title.
Terry Cook:But anyway, there you go.
Terry Cook:But yes, it was Susan Bates with this year come onto the podcast, Chris, and held us to account, took us a task for about 30 minutes, which was brilliant.
Chris Benstead:Yes.
Terry Cook:Tom, what's.
Terry Cook: ged you about our industry in: Tom Stenson:Lots of things, to be honest.
Tom Stenson:I think there are lots of positives.
Tom Stenson:I completely agree with Chris in that I think there definitely seems to be a bigger number of not just trainers but ADIs and PDIs who have been more working together.
Tom Stenson:I think there's always that sort of not standoffishness, but there's always that small barrier because we're all still competitors in the industry.
Tom Stenson:But I think there's, there's definitely been a big increase in more people working together to benefit the industry and I think that's really good.
Tom Stenson:Although I think the biggest thing for me that stands out is the younger people that are coming into the industry to sort of push us old folk is out.
Tom Stenson:Because I think having younger people in any type of industry is always good.
Tom Stenson:It sort of gives me hope.
Tom Stenson:Not that I've lost hope, but I just like to see, you know, younger people who are enthused and excited about coming into the industry because I think if they can get experience behind them as well as that enthusiasm, I can just see good things happening.
Terry Cook:Yeah, the youth definitely bring in some enthusiasm sometimes, although it does amuse me.
Terry Cook:I keep being asked to come on board with stuff, with the sole idea that I'm youthful, I'm young and I will bring the average age down by 10 years and I think I'm 42.
Terry Cook:How's that going to work?
Terry Cook:Then when I get there I realize, oh yeah, that's how, that's how.
Terry Cook:How much of that are you seeing that, that you.
Terry Cook:Where.
Terry Cook:Sorry, where are you seeing that?
Terry Cook:Is that like PDIs coming in?
Terry Cook:Are you seeing them coming younger?
Terry Cook:Is it people becoming trainers at younger.
Terry Cook:Is it, you know, or is it across the board?
Tom Stenson:Definitely with the driving schools that I work with, I've seen more PDIs coming in that, you know, early 20s to mid 20s.
Tom Stenson:I can't ever imagine when I was in my 20s thinking I'm going to train to become a driving instructor now.
Tom Stenson:Whether that's just because advertising is much easier now when people see that availability, but I still see that as a positive because I didn't come into this industry thinking that I'd be in it 13 years later.
Tom Stenson:It was a stopgap for me until I moved on to something bigger and better.
Tom Stenson:And then I obviously met Stuart and Chris and you and you know, wonderful.
Stuart Lockery:People in the industry dining area.
Tom Stenson:No, and there's a few uhms as well because I know you've missed some out.
Tom Stenson:So I thought I'd add a few in for you.
Tom Stenson:Terry.
Tom Stenson:Yeah, definitely the, the, definitely the PDIs, which I think is really good and they've, they've come on especially over the last 12 months a little bit longer to now be qualified and they've shown an interest in road safety, they've shown an interest in progression and cpd and I think I can.
Tom Stenson:It just feels good.
Tom Stenson:I just, just think there's a lot of good things there that can happen.
Tom Stenson:So I'm, I'm with Chris again.
Tom Stenson:I'm looking forward to seeing what those people can do in a few years time and you know, maybe against popular or Unpopular opinion.
Tom Stenson:I don't think there's so much of a problem with being new to the industry to then going in to become a trainer.
Tom Stenson:If you're putting the work in and you're learning from your mistakes and you're going on and gaining lots of additional qualifications and a lot of experience, why can't you go out and help people if you've been in that situation?
Tom Stenson:And yeah, all positives.
Terry Cook:Again, interesting tidbit for you on that.
Terry Cook:Actually, this year is the first year where the majority of people listening to the instructor podcasts were under 40.
Terry Cook:Previously it was all over 40.
Terry Cook:It's now under 40.
Terry Cook:And this year I was listened to still.
Terry Cook:Apple was my biggest, but Spotify was very, very close.
Terry Cook:And it's always been a big gap previously.
Terry Cook:And typically the younger the person, the more like I listen on Spotify than Apple.
Terry Cook:So there's definitely some kind of skewing going on there.
Terry Cook:So.
Terry Cook:So that's good.
Terry Cook:And I like that fusion.
Terry Cook:I've liked the enthusiasm from all three of you there.
Terry Cook:I've.
Terry Cook:I don't have that same enthusiasm this year.
Terry Cook:I think I'm the grumpy old man this year.
Terry Cook:But I do have one thing in particular that's impressed me this year.
Terry Cook:Do you know what?
Terry Cook:No, that's not true.
Terry Cook:There's been a few and some of them are the new guys on it.
Terry Cook:Some of the stuff that's been created this year has been all awesome.
Terry Cook:The three of you.
Terry Cook:We can mention all the stuff there that I've said earlier, but there's been other people inspiring training.
Terry Cook:I think of the podcast, the way they've taken the podcast especially the second half of this year has been.
Terry Cook:I like it essentially.
Terry Cook:I think it's been something a little bit different.
Terry Cook:I like what they've done with the membership.
Terry Cook:I like what Kit have done in particular with the road safety focus on their podcast that they've done this year.
Terry Cook:So there's been some things that have come through that I like, but I think the big one for me is the way a lot, not all, but a lot of ADIs have embraced the road safety message that I've been trying to filter through.
Terry Cook:And not just ADIs, but it feels like that spread a little bit.
Terry Cook:You know, I look at.
Terry Cook:I've seen courses now on how to incorporate road safety into driving lessons.
Terry Cook:And I'm not saying all this is because of me, by the way, it's a road safety message.
Terry Cook:But we go back to the convention before we look at some of the speakers and likes of Liz Box and Dr.
Terry Cook:E and Greenwood and you know, this kind of stuff.
Terry Cook:And I just think it's being embraced more and it's not being all that road safety thing over there.
Terry Cook:They'll leave them to that and, but not just that.
Terry Cook:The road safety sector is starting to embrace us a little bit more.
Terry Cook:They're starting to reach out to us and incorporate us in this stuff.
Terry Cook:And I just think that that's the thing that's making me positive at the minute.
Terry Cook:But I think mostly the ADIs are doing it.
Terry Cook:Some of the messages I've got after that road safety season and some of the people reached out and saying, oh, I've done this for the first time, I've tried this.
Terry Cook:And you know, and I made that little episode I did a while ago talking about how if you're not delivering nighttime lessons, are you delivering safe driving for life or are you delivering safe driving in the daytime for life?
Terry Cook:And the number of people that came back to me were like, I've started doing one 10pm lesson a month because of this.
Terry Cook:It's like just that.
Terry Cook: couraged me most about, about: Terry Cook:So yes, that's my positive, even if I don't quite share your guys enthusiasm.
Stuart Lockery:But can I, can I interrupt there for a second?
Stuart Lockery:Terry, when you're talking about all the different things and just different areas that people are kind of providing training in, I don't think you've picked us up quite a lot and we're always very grateful to be picked up.
Stuart Lockery:But I don't think you can downplay your own role in that in particular kind of last year and the year before in terms of, and before that, in terms of all the different people that you bring onto your podcast and from outside of the industry, that's for me, that's kind of one of the things that's been carried on.
Stuart Lockery:You've opened the Pandora's box there and other trainers like myself and Phil and other people and Tom are taking that on and just running with it.
Stuart Lockery:But I think you've got a huge, you deserve a huge amount of credit for what you did with that.
Terry Cook:Well, I appreciate you saying that.
Terry Cook: ll say it again, I go back to: Terry Cook:If you wanted to find something that was all standard traced and I don't give myself a lot of credit But I do give myself credit for that in that it's now easier to find different stuff and people doing different stuff.
Terry Cook:And part of that, you know, did I start the ball rolling there?
Terry Cook:Probably, you know, whatever.
Terry Cook:I've changed the industry, we'll go with it.
Terry Cook:But yes, I appreciate that you put me on the spot, made me feel sheepish.
Terry Cook:I'm quickly moving on to quarter three.
Stuart Lockery:News.
Terry Cook: ose part one of our review of: Terry Cook:Thank you for listening.
Terry Cook:Thank you for Stuart and Chris and Tom for joining me on this episode.
Terry Cook:Everything we spoke about.
Terry Cook:So you can find links for in the comments and be sure to subscribe to the instructor podcast so you get part two into your feeds very frequently, very soon.
Terry Cook:But as this episode is going on on New Year's Eve, I want to take a moment just to wish you all a very, very happy New Year.
Terry Cook: I really hope that: Terry Cook:The instructor podcast with Terry Cook talking.
Chris Benstead:With leaders, innovators, experts and game changers.
Terry Cook:About what drives them.
