A friend messaged me this response in regards to the question "what does someone look for in an instructor". I found this to be the most complete possible answer and one I entirely agree with :
"Your question came back to me tonight about "what do you look for in an instructor", and without getting into the dialogue, this: confidence.
The Legitimates have such a command for the material their confidence *should* be off the charts. It's the breadth of their material that is another catch. I personally can off-the-charts confidence when it comes to a basic Glock introduction. Basic marksmanship. No problem. Servicing and maintaining. Easy. How about teaching accessing that blaster while responding to an immediate/unseen attack and so on so forth--- no so much. A real instructor for the material in question has confidence--- not bravado, not the window dressing, the Airframe, the custom Glock, the high-end AR--- he has confidence. He has command of the material. He may wear out of fashion shoes. He may wear khakis from Tractor Supply and don't have an embroidered bird on them anywhere. His Glock may be a boring home brew. But he has command of the material, he is lights-out in execution/demo, and can get most attentive students to make serious strides in the same direction. In fact- he gets you confident to some increased percentile.
I know severa people who are instructors whom I would consider friends-- who are not confident. Under their Crye utilities and Oakleys, their is a perceptible air of "I don't know if I should be here". And until that is decided, they really shouldn't. Because of they're not confident- how will they make me confident? How will they improve my command of the material if every thing they say is second guessed in their own mind? If they are constantly having to justify and compare themselves to those who are confident and in command?
Personally- I've been blessed to know some really confident teachers who were competent and in command of their material. And lots of others who could be -but it would require them to downshift into many more years of being a student and that's a blow to the ego and would mean they'd have to get a job and contribute to society and be a regular guy who pays retail for his Arcteryx swag. Lots of guys would be great AI's for someone legit. No shame in being the nurse who hands the surgeon his instruments- she's saving lives too. But she didn't graduate top of her class at Stanford, number 1 at Harvard Medical, do her residence at Cedar Sinai, and is the chair of the neural surgery at LA County with published articles and advancements in the field. It takes time and years and work and dedication that few are willing to give.
I know how to stop someone from bleeding out -with certain wounds. It doesn't make me a trauma surgeon. I've shot fast before -I'm not a gunfighter. It takes a dedication of life that I don't have any desire whatsoever to make and never will. What I am dedicated to and have developed in, I am confident about.
All the window dressing in the world can't hide it, nor could it have provided it either.
Show me someone who is an instructor who is excessively defensive about some area in their life or business or professional acumen- I'll show you an area where they are neither confident nor in command of the material enough to make me as a student and customer better. The customer is never blamed for calling out a service provider for failing to deliver paid-for goods... except in the tactical firearms industry and its trainers. The customer is always wrong until the Tactical Better Business Beareau blasts them enough on the Internet to retreat to the recesses of their local fiefdom.
Real instructors make the willing, able and attentive competent- and that makes you confident. Sometimes small increments, sometimes huge strides.
But the instructor I'll continue to plunk down hard earned money, spend precious time with, and burn costly ammo on their POI-- is the instructor who is confident (and doesn't need to be negative about other instructors at all) and in command of the material. There are some things in the industry you just can't fake. And it only comes with time, experience and the right pedigree."
"Your question came back to me tonight about "what do you look for in an instructor", and without getting into the dialogue, this: confidence.
The Legitimates have such a command for the material their confidence *should* be off the charts. It's the breadth of their material that is another catch. I personally can off-the-charts confidence when it comes to a basic Glock introduction. Basic marksmanship. No problem. Servicing and maintaining. Easy. How about teaching accessing that blaster while responding to an immediate/unseen attack and so on so forth--- no so much. A real instructor for the material in question has confidence--- not bravado, not the window dressing, the Airframe, the custom Glock, the high-end AR--- he has confidence. He has command of the material. He may wear out of fashion shoes. He may wear khakis from Tractor Supply and don't have an embroidered bird on them anywhere. His Glock may be a boring home brew. But he has command of the material, he is lights-out in execution/demo, and can get most attentive students to make serious strides in the same direction. In fact- he gets you confident to some increased percentile.
I know severa people who are instructors whom I would consider friends-- who are not confident. Under their Crye utilities and Oakleys, their is a perceptible air of "I don't know if I should be here". And until that is decided, they really shouldn't. Because of they're not confident- how will they make me confident? How will they improve my command of the material if every thing they say is second guessed in their own mind? If they are constantly having to justify and compare themselves to those who are confident and in command?
Personally- I've been blessed to know some really confident teachers who were competent and in command of their material. And lots of others who could be -but it would require them to downshift into many more years of being a student and that's a blow to the ego and would mean they'd have to get a job and contribute to society and be a regular guy who pays retail for his Arcteryx swag. Lots of guys would be great AI's for someone legit. No shame in being the nurse who hands the surgeon his instruments- she's saving lives too. But she didn't graduate top of her class at Stanford, number 1 at Harvard Medical, do her residence at Cedar Sinai, and is the chair of the neural surgery at LA County with published articles and advancements in the field. It takes time and years and work and dedication that few are willing to give.
I know how to stop someone from bleeding out -with certain wounds. It doesn't make me a trauma surgeon. I've shot fast before -I'm not a gunfighter. It takes a dedication of life that I don't have any desire whatsoever to make and never will. What I am dedicated to and have developed in, I am confident about.
All the window dressing in the world can't hide it, nor could it have provided it either.
Show me someone who is an instructor who is excessively defensive about some area in their life or business or professional acumen- I'll show you an area where they are neither confident nor in command of the material enough to make me as a student and customer better. The customer is never blamed for calling out a service provider for failing to deliver paid-for goods... except in the tactical firearms industry and its trainers. The customer is always wrong until the Tactical Better Business Beareau blasts them enough on the Internet to retreat to the recesses of their local fiefdom.
Real instructors make the willing, able and attentive competent- and that makes you confident. Sometimes small increments, sometimes huge strides.
But the instructor I'll continue to plunk down hard earned money, spend precious time with, and burn costly ammo on their POI-- is the instructor who is confident (and doesn't need to be negative about other instructors at all) and in command of the material. There are some things in the industry you just can't fake. And it only comes with time, experience and the right pedigree."
