Do I mean that you should be raping and pillaging your local villages or have the Vikings been misunderstood. What was I doing mixing with Vikings anyway.
To answer this question please be aware that I was fortunate enough to be on a cruise to Norway. As a good tourist I frequented various souvenir shops and came across the Viking Laws in different forms. They were on tea towels, mugs, posters and postcards. As ever I exercised my normal financial caution and went for the cheaper option of a postcard. As my wife will tell you, I have never knowingly bought affection.
So what are these laws and how can we use them. My local football team Pompey (Portsmouth FC) will be playing our local rivals Southampton FC in the upcoming season. I can’t say what we normally call them, so Southampton FC will have to do! As you can imagine the atmosphere can get quite heated so these Viking Laws could be quite useful.
Viking Laws:
But as I read through them, while certainly the first two could be quite useful, but “be a good merchant” was not going to be much help in the coming confrontation. Neither did “keep the camp in order” seem of much use unless of course camp referred to the Southampton fans.
I had another read through them and contemplated their meaning. It occurred to me that these were not all about fighting but more about how to live life. Could they have other applications, for example maybe driving instruction?
1. Be Brave and Aggressive
- Be direct
- Grab all opportunities
- Use varying methods of attack
- Be versatile and agile
- Attack one target at a time
- Use top quality weapons
Be direct: Mean what you say and say what you mean. I want you to take the next left. Right! So be clear and give directions in good time
Attack one target at a time: Could this mean that your pupil should have a clear idea of what they are trying to achieve.
Grab all opportunities: There is a lot happening on the roads. Do you use what is happening around to reinforce the lesson. Where appropriate use it without overloading the pupil.
Use varying methods of attack: Are your lessons adapted to the pupil or does everyone get your standard lesson.
Be versatile and agile: Should this mean you need to be aware of your surroundings and your pupils actions.
Use top quality weapons: Your brain is the thing here, we want drivers who can think their way through driving situations. Surely as instructors we should be able to think our way through our pupils’ problems. When was the last time you honed your brain by doing some CPD. Sometimes just attending a local association meeting will allow you to share problems and hear new ideas.
2. Be Prepared
- Keep weapons in good condition
- Keep in shape
- Find good battle comrades
- Agree on important points
- Choose one chief
Keep weapons in good condition: Excellent advice. Is your training vehicle in good condition. Maintenance is normally cheaper than repair.
Keep in shape: A problem with our job is we spend a lot of time sat down. Do we eat right, do we exercise, do we get our eyesight checked regularly, do we have a work life balance. These are important if we wish to do our jobs well.
Find good battle comrades: Join a local association, come to our next expo and go on courses. Networking will really make a difference.
Agree on important points: There are lots of different ways of doing our jobs but the main point is producing safe drivers.
Choose one chief: We all should be working together with the objective of producing safe drivers. Like it or not this means working with and through the DVSA.
3. Be a Good Merchant
- Find out what the market needs
- Do not promise what you can’t keep
- Do not demand overpayment
- Arrange things so that you can return
Find out what the market needs: We all find our own niche within the industry. For most of us this is the ordinary learner. Find out what you are happy with and stick with it.
Do not promise what you can’t keep: This and the next couple are all about reputation. You only have one reputation so cherish it by keeping promises. This includes being on time and doing the time you have been paid for.
Do not demand overpayment: If you rip off your customers soon you won’t have any customers. How you deal with money is important not just to you and your family, but to the people who are paying you.
Arrange things so that you can return: Most of us get our work by reputation. Part of that is by being pleasant to be with and by being professional.
4. Keep the Camp in Order
- Keep things tidy and organised
- Arrange enjoyable activities which strengthen the group
- Make sure everyone does useful work
- Consult all members of the group for advice
Keep things tidy and organised: This can be interpreted in different ways. It could be how your training vehicle looks, certainly it’s your general admin.
Arrange enjoyable activities which strengthen the group: Again different ways to see this. Joining a local association could be one way, making your lesson enjoyable could be another. Certainly some of your pupils will know each other.
Make sure everyone does useful work: This moves back to making sure your lessons have purpose. Your useful work might be the example you set between lessons. If you are seen driving differently to the way you teach it rather devalues what you teach. We are driving instructors all the time we are on the road. In our training vehicles or not.
Consult all members of the group for advice: Ask your colleagues, keep up with what we at the NJC are doing for you. Read our newsletters, look at the Facebook page, use the Facebook group page. Once again attend meetings like local associations and our expo’s. Get to know your fellow ADI/PDI’s. We’re quite a friendly lot and together we are stronger.
Again having another look at these Viking Laws from a driving instructor’s point of view.
Be brave and aggressive is saying we should deal with pupils in a positive way. We need to be active in what we do, our pupils are paying us, so we need to provide value for money. Passively driving round and responding to the pupil is not enough.
Be prepared is a good motto, not just for boy scouts but for everyone including Viking driving instructors. Are you able to deliver. This is about you and how you provide the skills your pupils need to be safe.
Both of these points above are about how we deal with pupils on a one to one basis. It doesn’t take too much imagination to see how the different points could be used while teaching and how they relate to the 17 competencies.
Be a good merchant. This is your reputation, you only have the one so treat it with a great deal of respect. Look at the stakeholders in your professional life. How are you serving them, do the examiners get the high quality pupils that are not only able to pass but safe afterwards. Do your pupils and colleagues get the respect that they deserve. Remember to get respect you need to give respect.
Keep the camp in good order. What is your personal admin like. If we are not properly organised how can we deal effectively with our pupils. Failing to plan is planning to fail, we need to know what we are doing and how we are going to do this. I might even add here this includes our work life balance. We all need something outside of driving instruction to keep ourselves fresh.
These points are how we should administer ourselves. As I read them I realise these Viking Laws give a different view to the Vikings. They weren’t all about raping and pillaging. In their heyday they spread and settled all over Europe. Our own history has been very much shaped by them in the form of the Normans who were descended from the Vikings.
Judging by these laws, fair and effective in what they wanted. The first two points cover the short term, while the next two cover the long term. As instructors we are in it for the long term and can learn from them.
© Liam Greaney
driving-pro.com
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