You Don’t Know Everything: Part 2 of the Conscious Competence Ladder

Conscious Incompetence 

Now you know that you don’t know what you don’t know and if you are thinking about staying in Unconscious Incompetence, stage 1, you can forget it because it's nearly impossible to do. See once you get the idea in your head that you want to venture into something you've become interested in, you have to learn! You are now aware that there’s a lot to be learned and you are aware that you don’t have this knowledge (yet); you’re Conscious Incompetent. In this stage you may feel your abilities are limited and your confidence may be low. It’s an uncomfortable time because you may be intimidated at all there is to learn and find out there are others around you that may be more competent than you. You have two choices:

1. You can choose to stay incompetent deciding you are not going to learn these new skills. 
2. You will decide that you will learn all there is to master these new skills.

It’s okay to know you cannot be competent at most things! 

Chose What to Learn and What to Let Go! 

Choose the Few Things we Can be Competent With 

We can be competent in one thing and choose to remain incompetent in others. In this information age, new ideas and technologies are being introduced constantly. Being consciously incompetent is a very important stage. This is where we get to decide and choose to learn what we need to advance or we can choose not to learn what we need to advance.

I’d like to think of this stage as GRACE. If you are spiritually inclined, you may feel as supernatural assistance taking place because you are pondering on or in state of considerable thought. Most of us will remain in this stage with most skills we come across. What if you are mentoring a business partner? In this stage you must do all you can to provide encouragement to those you are mentoring and be gentle with correction, helping them be okay with mistakes they are making. There’s more than one way to skin a cat; meaning there are many ways to do something. It is only when we choose to educate ourselves and move into the next stage of competence that we take stock of what we need to move forward. That next stage is called Conscious Competence.

Onward and Upward! 

Written by Sonya Michele
Freelance Writer | Web Designer & Marketer
Blog | Twitter | Linkedin

Question: Now that you've figured out what it will take to gain the knowledge needed to venture forward in your dream business, will you choose to stay incompetent or are you willing to master what you don’t know?

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Are you at Stage 3 or Stage 4?: Part 1 of the Conscious Competence Ladder

The Conscious Competence Ladder 

Regarded as an intuitive approach, The Conscious Competence Ladder helps you manage your emotions during a learning process that may be uncomfortable due to you recognizing that we necessarily may not know the answers to, for instance, how to start, build, and sustain a business. The Conscious Competence Ladder helps us to be more in touch with the emotions of the people we are teaching so we can better train them through the learning process.

The Conscious Competence Ladder takes us through 4 stages from Unconscious Incompetence to Unconscious Competence. Here are the levels described from mindtools.com

Stage 1 – Unconscious Incompetence (You Don't Know that You Don't Know)
Stage 2 – Conscious Incompetence (You Know that You Don't Know)
Stage 3 – Conscious Competence (You Know that You Know)
Stage 4 – Unconscious Competence (You Don't Know that You Know – It Just Seems Easy!)

As we process each stage, we gain knowledge and if we choose to experience each stage, we also gain the ability to do things recognizing we may be highly competent in one area, but have no skill in another area. Your competence level will depend on the task or job at hand.

Unconscious Incompetence 

If someone wants to become a business owner, they have to become aware of what they don’t know and have to accept that they don’t know it. This is the beginning of the learning process. Here we are unaware, unsure, and probably lacking confidence with a skill or task. Some of us in the entrepreneur world can be very ignorant that we don’t have all the skills and talents needed to handle certain businesses. This stage helps us identify how important it is to learn that we don't know that we don’t know and we need to be aware of what we need to have and sustain that business we sole desire. Now it’s time to take the next step to Conscious Incompetence and become aware of what you need to learn about what don’t know.

 

You don’t know what you don’t know! 

You don’t know the limits of the area of knowledge you seek to understand! 

Onward and Upward! 

Question: What would be the dream business for you? Are you already working that dream business? If so, tell us about it and what challenges have you met and endured?

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Are you In Tune with Your Business?

There are things we do on a daily basis that determines if we are conscious competent (stage 3) or unconscious competent (stage 4).  I would venture to say you're not at one or two level because then you would be oblivious to your surroundings.

Are you at Stage  3 or Stage 4 in your business?

Conscious competence are those things that you do, but must be focused on it or somewhat be thinking about while you're doing it.  Let's say you are used to folding your clothes a certain way, however someone else shows you their way of folding them, you have to be a bit more focused on the new way than the way you are use to.  Basically you cannot rely on the "second nature" of folding your clothes.  You'll practice over and over again, the new way, being careful to learn the new way, the new pattern, making sure it's right.

Unconscious competence are those things you do that are second nature, literally taking no thought

knowing it just fits into your routine.  When you're normally getting dresses and preparing for the day, one of the things you most likely will not forget is brushing your teeth.  If you did so, lets say while driving, you make quickly find your way to the nearest drug store and buy a tooth brush and all the essentials to take care of the issue of forgetting to brush your teeth.  When you forget something that you do unconsciously you know something is not right.  There is a piece missing from the pattern.

Well this brings me to my next piece, your business.  Are you so in tune with your business that it is second nature to talk with someone about your business?  Are you so passionate about what you know that it is a natural progression of relating to others needs with your products and/or services?  Is your business operating like the tooth brush scenario, where you operate it like an essential part of the day and when you are not doing so you sense something missing.  You as a business owner must become so interactive with your business that even when you are not trying to share with someone, the sense or "aroma" of your character will draw those quality individuals and leaders to help you succeed.

This week we will touch on the 4 Stages of Conscious Competence, help you understand where you are in your business and give you some tools to better navigate where you are, how you can be better, and become more aware of your strengths and weaknesses in your business.

a Definitive Fact:  Just commit 110% in all Levels of Business

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CAUSING Momentum Through Leadership

So you didn't think there would be delays and back ups on the road to a successful business... Well I’m here to say, YES there can be unexpected delays and major backups on the road to business success. You just have to be prepared to take back roads and watch for the signs before you get caught up in those things you cannot foresee.

Get Back in Neutral
Business development and planning can be predictable especially when you are diving into a business plan that has been around a few times. Some types of businesses just need a tweak here and there because they have been tried-and-proven. Regardless of how you ventured out in your business, you have got to plan for those unplanned moments that can place your income generating vehicle in neutral. Have you ever driven a car with a 4 speed stick-shift? When I was learning how to drive, it was the car my father chose for me to learn how to drive because he felt that if I knew how to operate a stick-shift, I could drive any type of car. He was admit that I learn a difficult task so that it wouldn't hinder me later in life. So I did, I mastered a 4 speed truck and when I went away to college and the only mode of transportation available to me was a 5 speed sports car I had no fear or resistance to driving it especially on the freeway.

Successful Momentum In Business Begins With Skillful Leadership 

Shift UP for Momentum

So you've done all the planning and preparation to get this business rolling without a hitch. You've analyzed all the scenarios you could think of that could start or stall it from being a success and now you are ready to place the key in the ignition and get out on that open road of possibilities.

In first speed, the car seems to be raging against itself. Sounding like the engine is burning up and anything rolling around inside the car is going crazy rattling around. But you have to be in this speed to gain momentum. Just like in your business, when you first start out, all our foreseen plans and preparations can sometimes feel like they are raging against each other. Some of our plans are right-on and then some plans go up against things we had no idea even existed. But don’t fret, we don’t stay in “first speed” long. We go from shifting UP to shifting DOWN into 2nd speed.

Shift DOWN to Gain Speed 
Wow! Can you believe it? Shifting down enabled you to go even faster! You would think shifting down would decrease momentum and lose traction but you didn't. You re-evaluated the course of your business, shifted your mind, devised a new plan, have more data to base your theories on, and now you’re gaining momentum.

Shift UP again into third speed. Take off with a robust thrust all together joyous in the thrill of the ride. This time you took a breath to see your business for what it really is. Sure you've gained more momentum but you can’t stay in third for too long. You’re getting the hang of your business now relying more on the “horsepower” of your income generating vehicle. The engine, you, is cooperating with the gears, your team, and the wheels, your business plan, is following the upward and downward shifting of the entire vehicle.

Now the road is open before you. No backups or stalled out vehicles blocking your flow so you shift again, now in fourth speed, to cruse your business into success destiny. While this concept most readily applies within the context of driving a stick-shift vehicle, there are easy parallels and comparisons within the operation of your business.

Whether it’s a corporation, sole-proprietor, non-profit organization, or direct sales business, each of these business types will at some point need an instant shift in momentum that only their respective leader can execute. Overall, you are the CAUSE and EFFECT of your business so be mindful of that. Set out to lead even if you’re the only one in your business. When the team begins to form, be diligent in your communication with your team to yield the most success in your business and build trust. Last but not least, be steadfast to rely on your skills and your teams skills to build momentum.

VROOM! VROOM! (Onward and Upward!)

Written by Sonya Michele
Freelance Writer | Web Designer & Marketer
Blog | Twitter | Linkedin

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Creating An Effective Business Through Leadership

The business tip of the week prompts us to be diligent in our communication with our team to yield the most success in our businesses. You may start out in your business venture as a singular entity but eventually you add others that make up a team to duplicate your ideals and vision to make your business soar and thrive. So how do you create an effective business through leadership? Is being trustworthy overrated and should we manage a team versus leading one?

CAUSE and EFFECT of your business
Are you the cause or the effect of your business? Do you CAUSE your team to go above and beyond the vision you have set before them to make that business thrive or do you CAUSE them to wait on every direction and micro-manage every step to building that business? Are you EFFECTING the team in a positive or negative way? So how can you be an EFFECTIVE leader? For the most part, trust is key to effective working relationships; yet, is trust harder to earn or easier to lose? Leadership is an intensely personal sport for you, the leader as well as the team you are leading. Although every leader is different, every leader must make sure they are articulating their leadership philosophy on a consistent basis.

TRUST? Are you worthy? 
Trust is about an ability to rely upon or expect a predictable outcome. If you can clearly lay out how your people can expect you to behave in a variety of situations, they'll have a basic expectation upon which to build a foundation of trust. The root of all your trust issues lies in not clearly setting expectations of your behavior in the first place. So, are you trustworthy? Take a trust test and see how you can leverage your strengths and identify your weaknesses.

Manage or Lead?
What’s the difference between management and leadership? Well it boils down to meaning that you manage THINGS but you lead PEOPLE. Budgets, materials, programs, projects, etc. all get managed. These are tasks that can easily be managed by establishing a checklist. But how do you lead people?

You gotta know that people are funny, unpredictable, ambitious, can be complex, irrational, and/or emotional beings. Understanding all these aspects (and so much more) and somehow get them to do difficult things because they want to do them. Leadership is the ability to point the way and inspire. You can’t do that with a checklist. If you can create some principles for how you’ll lead, it can help you guide your team and keep consistency on a daily basis. With consistency you, the leader, becomes more predictable and more trustworthy.

Here are four things to keep in mind with developing your leadership skills: 

1. Learn to Lead yourself by finding out what motivates you. 
2. Get a grasp on where you’d like to take your business and define what your standards are so you can communicate that thoroughly to the team. 
3. Once you figure out the goals and vision for your business and have communicated them to the team, begin to lead by example meaning do the tasks that most may deem as low-end or petty. 
4. At the end of the work day, remember leading is not just for the workplace. Continue to lead a balanced life by adding time into your schedule for downtime and relaxation. 

Know who you are as a leader, who you want to be, and be steadfast in how you move forward! 

Onward And Upward! Written by Sonya Michele
Freelance Writer | Web Designer & Marketer
Blog | Twitter | Linkedin

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You are the Cause and Effect of YOUR Business

What is Leadership to an entrepreneur? 
 Some may say being an entrepreneur is a lonely task. Being the one to either build up a company from scratch based on a brilliant idea or take on multiple business concepts with the intent to harness multiple streams of income can only be done with success by ONE individual. But what we don’t seem to take in consideration is that there is no ‘I’ in ENTREPRENEUR. 

What stands out in in the word ENTREPRENEUR is “ENTRE” which is close to the word entree’ meaning to go before the main course of a meal. Some may recognize an entree’ to be the main course but as you can see without an entree’ there is no main course. I will go one step further to say the entree’ could never arrive without a main course being planned. I say this to not make you feel hungry, I say all this as a metaphor, if you will, that if the entrepreneur is to exist, who is preparing and organizing the ‘main course’ (business)? It takes a team of people to execute the vision of the entrepreneur to build and sustain a business. When the team succeeds, every member of the team deserves to take credit and when there’s failure, every member of the team should take credit in that too. Each team member needs to know that the sustainability of the business depends on them as much as on the senior executives. 

 Leadership is the process through which an entrepreneur is able to influence a team to achieve the vision of the business. In order to be an EFFECTIVE leader, an entrepreneur must do two or more things: 

1. Build trust and confidence amongst its team 
2. Communicate effectively with them 

Business Tip of The Week

“AN EFFECTIVE ENTREPRENEUR CAN ACHIEVE AND MAINTAIN A CONSISTENT RAPPORT WITH THEIR TEAM BY WORKING DILIGENTLY IN COMMUNICATING THEIR VISION AND BUILDING TRUST BY BEING AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT THEY WANT TO SEE FROM THEIR TEAM CAUSING CONFIDENCE, SATISFACTION, AND OVERALL COMMITMENT TO SEEING THEIR VISION BECOME A REALITY.” 

This week we are going to break down what it really is to be the CAUSE and EFFECT of your business. It ultimately relies on YOU the business owner. The ability to be an effective leader is a crucial element to any business or business structure. Helping YOU be aware of what it takes to be successful in this area will bring forth ease and longevity to your business and your team. Understanding that seeking self-improvement by accepting responsibility for your actions (good or bad) helps you make better decisions on behalf of your business and identify those areas that you may not be strong in like being trustworthy, or being the example for others to follow, etc. will overall maximize your chances to succeed. 

Tomorrow we will ask are you the cause or the effect of your business and break down those two areas needed to be an effective leader. 

Onward and Upward!

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The Future of your business: Our Children!

Our History
In today's society, children have much more information at their disposal than at any time in history.  Literally at the the click of a mouse, they can become a scholar in any subject they choose, any video game they play, or even the latest dance on the scene.  At the same time, technology has also made them lazy because so much is available to them at their fingertips.

Do You Remember The Time
Do you remember when you were little and your parents made you go to play saying, "Don't come back in this house until the sun goes down!"  This allowed us to socialize, run, sweat (stay in shape), try new things, dream with friends, explore nature, as well as taking a magnifying glass to burn ants!  Okay... don't act like you didn't do mischievous things like that.  The point is youth were so much more active and more sociable back then.  Now they are usually found in their room on social networks, playing video games, or doing things that don't require them to stretch their natural ability to survive out here in this ever changing world.  Grant it, it's not all on them.  We as parents have become more busy with work.  Some of us work 2 or 3 jobs or are so tired when we get home that the idea of having a social life is unreachable.  For some parents it seems as though the kids have been placed in a time where they have to take care of themselves because we can't figure out how to juggle all these pieces of life.  Do we really want that?  Do we really want the streets to show our kids the way of life, the videos on t.v., reality shows (a joke), and video games that are getting to be so violent that they must be labeled with letters like "M" for mature... SERIOUSLY!

We must engage with our youth like never before because they need us like never before!

I was talking with my daughter the other day and expressed that your generation is even smarter than we were.  We discussed that her generation has smart phones where we had pagers to communicate with.  We had phone books, you have the internet with a search engine that searches out anything you are looking for with a click of the mouse.  We had tapes and CD's, you have mp3s, iPods, and streaming audio and video.  Yes!  Technology has brought you to a different level but on the other hand, technology has also desensitized some of the natural response times in behavior.

Here's The Challenge
I challenge you, business owners and business seekers, to put a plan of action together and reach out to the youth in your community.  Share with them the skills that you've acquired.  It's not important that they do exactly what you do.  What is important is that you value our youth and the world we live in to engage with them to learn from your skills and gifts to gain experience at an early age.  Teach them about business instead of buying them a game.  Don't you realize you can have a dynasty of young leaders helping you to grow your business?  Intern them or help them pay their way through college!  The reason why I am so passionate about this...I am a doer of this challenge.

Youth Vision
As we speak, I am formulating a youth vision program for ages 18-25 teaching them survival skills, through business concepts, needed to navigate the environment we live in.  This program is not your typical etiquette on dressing for a job interview.  Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that.  I want to focus on the fundamental of personalizing communication in business as well as building relationships in their careers.  Click here for more information on Youth Vision.

Join me on Wednesday as I continue on with this thought-provoking post...

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Team Pure Intent: SpreeCast Video

Byron Talbert, with Team Pure Intent and Ced Reynolds, with System 7 speak about running business online and offline and a life of giving with Send Out Cards.  Take a look!

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GAME CHANGER OF THE MONTH: SONYA MICHELE

Sonya Michele is a woman with passion and compassion for others. With her energy and smiling face she draws people from far and near truly branding herself as a relationship building individual.  Since being part of Team Pure Intent she has been motivation to the team as well as an instant inspiration to others. Her expertise in web building and graphic design has allowed her to expand her services into multiple industries including local government entities, local and out of state businesses as well as recently chamber of commerce organizations.

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In Pursuit of Value

Is there anything in the last 20 years that you would do over again?  Would you make different adjustments to your education, to your diet, your business relationships, personal relationships (some would probably say I wouldn't marry this person again), or would you make those same decisions over again?

One of my first business ventures was selling knives.  The company is called Cutco.  It's still around today and I can vouch that those knives are the best I've ever had.  As a matter of fact, I still use them today and have only sharpened one knife in 20 years.  So I guess this is a plug for them.  Yes!  I still use them and they have truly added value as a product.  Sold it for a while to parents, cousins, and friends who bought them and still have their set today.  Indeed, this product was consumable but it wasn't something that I was totally passionate about for a "business."

I went on to market a telecom company because I did like technology and phones.  Later, I went into the nutrition industry and had a blast there and on to other companies were I made so very good income, but I still wasn't hitting my mark.  Does the above sound like "doing what you're asked to do and not what you want to do?"

So I ask, "are you doing what you're doing because it sounded good at the time?"  Did the compensation plan seem strong?  Are you just working it to see what may come of it?  Or have you finally found something  that you know can truly add value to the people you'll be sharing with?  What do you value most about yourself and your business?  Here's a great resource survey from Sharon Presley at the "Resources for Independent Thinking" website.  She really helps give a thought provoking description on value to better assist you on understanding what you value.  It's a free tool but if you value the information she has put together, you'll donate to her nonprofit organization.

Let's game change this week by learning more about your value and prioritizing what's most important to you and your business!

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