I once talked to a few fellow trainers about education and the current ‘landscape’ of training opportunities. One of the things that they brought up resonated deeply with me.

They said that training companies that they work with/for aren’t very open to sharing resources, collaborating with one another, or sharing freelance trainer databases.

I asked them if they, as trainers, are open to these things and they responded with a resounding yes!

As a long-time trainer myself, I cannot help but agree with their assessment.

It felt strange that there was such a disconnection between the attitudes of the trainers and that of the training companies.

But I get it.

The prevailing concern is that of intellectual property "theft". And at least one of the companies I've worked with seems to have a crippling fear of this.

Even after working for so many years with them, readily sharing material I come up with on my own, it still feels as if they don't trust me.

The truth is, in the post-information age, information is so readily available that it's impossible to completely protect your lesson plans and curriculum, unless you ban all recording devices and recording methods, including webinars and online classes.

Further, even if someone else knows what you train, can they deliver it the way you can?

If they can do so easily, maybe your material isn't that good or original to begin with.

In which case, is it really as valuable as you think it is?