General Information
Written by Linda Brakeall
on 06/2008 - Word Count: 340
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The second stage is conscious incompetence. That's when you do know what you don't know. "And this is progress?" you ask. Yes, it is. This is where you are learning, growing, taking chances.
There is an old story about a salesman who said he had 10 years experience. It was soon discovered that our salesman only had one year's experience. The same one year's experience. Ten times!
That salesman, like most of us, was afraid of looking stupid; so he took no risks. He called on the same customers. He said the same things. He did the same things. He stayed in the same territory with the same product.
Salesman "B" had 10 years experience in about three years. As soon as he mastered one product, he learned about another. As soon as he had his territory humming, he added a little bit more. He went to classes, he improved his skills. Professionally, he was always living on the edge; always making mistakes. ¾ But not the same mistakes. And always learning & growing from those mistakes.
He went through learning stage #2 which is conscious incompetence. A lot! And he frequently moved on to learning stage #3 which is conscious competence. You know what you need to know - but you have to think about it to get it right.
After he learned something, he practiced, drilled and rehearsed until it became second nature to him. And he often sailed right into stage #4. Unconscious competence. He knew it so well he didn't have to think about it.
Linda Brakeall, GRI, CRB, is a nationally recognized expert in sales and marketing for Realtors®. Linda, a Realtor® for 13 years, three of which were as an award wining sales person, spent the next ten years as a manager and corporate trainer. She has been speaking professionally speaking, training and consulting since 1992. For information about Linda,
