{"id":15731,"date":"2017-02-10T13:01:48","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T12:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/?p=15731"},"modified":"2018-06-06T12:29:19","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T10:29:19","slug":"managers-learning-development-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/managers-learning-development-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Stepping into management: the learning and development journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the drawbacks of being a trainer is that now and again you fail to realise that what is obvious for you is new to others. In a recent <\/strong>young managers program<\/a> the \u201ceureka\u201d moment came when, following a young manager\u2019s \u201cMaybe I\u2019m not cut out for this job\u201d\u00a0 statement, I shared the <\/strong>\u201cConscious Competence model\u201d<\/a>.\u00a0 The model, developed by Noel Burch, has been around since the 1970s \u2013 and it\u2019s a great way to prepare for and reflect on your development as a manager (or development in any other role).\u00a0 I assumed my participants knew the model already but they had never heard of it. This is a quick recap.<\/strong><\/p>\n


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Stage 1 – Unconscious Incompetence<\/h2>\n

Ignorance is bliss, and you don\u2019t even realize that you are performing poorly. As a new, young manager perhaps you don\u2019t even realize you are making elementary mistakes. Instead of delegating you are dumping tasks on people and walk away convinced you are empowering them to find their own solutions. Perhaps your tasking is incomplete, or maybe you don\u2019t have clear goals because you didn\u2019t consider this your role.\u00a0 Are you delaying giving feedback because you don\u2019t want to upset anybody and it will sort itself out anyway \u2013 or perhaps the way you give feedback is so clumsy you demotivate somebody. \u00a0The list goes on and on. You assume you know what y0u’re doing –\u00a0 it\u2019s more or less the same as before but with the better desk and more benefits. You’re not aware that you don’t have the necessary skill. Perhaps you don’t even realize that the skill is relevant.\u00a0 In the first stage, your confidence exceeds your management skills. Before you can move to the next step you need to know and accept that certain skills are relevant to the role of manager, and that mastering this skill will make you more effective.<\/p>\n

Stage 2 – Conscious Incompetence<\/h2>\n

Someone helped you understand that you need to develop a new skill. Or, you have been sent on a management training programme and your eyes have been opened. Or perhaps confronted by poor results you\u2019ve actually\u00a0 taken a step back and reflected on what\u2019s been going on and the role you\u2019ve played. You are aware of your lack of skills. You are consciously incompetent. This is a difficult phase as you are now aware of your weaknesses, or in today’s insipid jargon your \u201cdevelopmental areas\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nobody is born a manager, although some people may well have innate skills, making the transition to manager easier. Learning by feedback, learning by suffering, learning by doing and learning by failing – these things brought you to the second stage. Training can play a role as can learning from your peers and exposing yourself to opportunities to learn. By staying positive and embracing the small successes your confidence in your own management abilities grows.<\/p>\n

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Stage 3 – Conscious Competence<\/h2>\n

At this stage you have learnt some reliable management techniques and processes, but they have to be consciously implemented. \u00a0It’s a bit like painting by numbers. You know how to facilitate a meeting well, but you still want to take time to reflect on the steps beforehand.\u00a0 You can make a great presentation<\/a> and get your message across \u2026 and you know what you need to do in advance to get the success you need. You can provide feedback in an appropriate manner \u2013 but not without thinking it through beforehand. At this stage, your ability to be flexible and proactive in unexpected situations is limited \u2013 but you can do it. The task-oriented aspects of managing are becoming fine-tuned but it is still learning by doing, trial and error, or copying managerial role models. You are testing your limits.<\/p>\n

Stage 4 – Unconscious Competence<\/h2>\n

Quite simply you have become what you wanted to be – \u00a0a skilled manager. The task and relationship aspects of managing are now „part of you“. \u00a0You know how to achieve the task, develop individuals and build a team \u2013 and can do it without too much thinking.<\/a> Non-routine situations are challenging, yet do not faze you. You are like Beckenbauer in football, or Federer in tennis. You always appear to have enough time and space to make good decisions. But even masters can lose matches and need to learn and practise.<\/p>\n

To summarize<\/h2>\n

The model can be universally applied as a model for learning. It suggests that you are initially unaware of how little you know – you simply don’t know what you don’t know. As you recognize your incompetence, you acquire a skill consciously, then learn to use that skill. Over time, the skill becomes a part of you. You can utilize it consciously thought through. When that happens you have acquired unconscious competence.<\/p>\n