boosternowbot

• Padi Instructor Insurance
• Padi Instructor Manual 2018

By John Kinsella Perhaps an instructor’s most important role is training fellow dive professionals; running a PADI ® Divemaster course, as the book succinctly says, demands nothing less than your best effort. Ditto for the DM candidates. Speaking of effort, a recent candidate got me thinking about what it takes to make a really great PADI Divemaster.

Padi Instructor Insurance

This person had to work hard at every step of the journey to PADI professional. Throughout the progression, from Open Water, to Advanced Open Water and Rescue, nothing came easy, but equally, nothing was allowed to get in the way.

Often, skills had to be practiced time and time again to develop mastery; sometimes even to the consternation of fellow candidates who flew through the required skills and exercises. This was real world affirmation of the benefits of performance-based training. It wasn’t easy for the DM training staff either; they had to put in extra effort too. From counseling sessions to restore confidence when if flagged to the extra time needed to make sure skills were performed comfortably and confidently, the trainers went the extra mile. What was notable in this context was how willing and selfless they were in response to the tremendous efforts the candidate made. The end result was that, with considerable time and effort, and constant good humor, this candidate prevailed and I have yet to meet someone who was more delighted with success. But the best was yet to come.

I think, more than anything, it is the inherent understanding of the challenges people sometimes face and overcome while learning new dive skills, and the consequent empathy, that helped this new divemaster really blossom and become an invaluable and committed dive shop team member and one of the most popular divemasters with customers. For those involved with professional development, and that should include all PADI Members, the basic message is clear. Sometimes it takes a bit of extra effort to help a DM (or other) candidate succeed.

Padi Instructor Manual 2018

But work hard with people who try hard and the rewards can be worth it.