I always saw myself as a good listener. Until I realized I wasnโt…
Last week I wrote about ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ โ you keep getting promoted, until you hit the ceiling of your competence.
Then, the requirements of the role exceed your capabilities and you stop being promoted.
For competence, think about things like your ability to think strategically, your emotional intelligence, your leadership skills, your communication skills, or your ability to analyse complex problems.
Competence is not set in stone โ you can increase it.
But here, weโre faced with an invisible enemy โ the ๐๐๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด-๐๐ฟ๐๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐.
Itโs a cognitive bias that makes people with low ability in a specific area, overestimate their ability in that area. It’s unconscious incompetence.
In many experiments, Dunning and Krugerโs observed that people who objectively score among the lowest 25%, rate themselves to be in the 50-75% range.
A practical example: many people who believe they are good listeners, in fact arenโt.
For me, the realization came when I truly listened to feedback. And then explored the topic of what listening is about, and how to become good at it.
Letโs tie last weekโs post and this topic together:
โข You keep getting promoted in organizations, until you hit your level of competence (๐ฃ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ).
โข To keep getting promoted, increase your level of competence.
โข For those skills we need to increase our competence for, we overestimate our ability (๐๐๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด-๐๐ฟ๐๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐).
โข This prevents us from putting in the effort to improve, which keeps our level of competence, and our career, where it is.
What can you do?
โข Take assessments on particular skills required for your role.
โข Ask for 360-feedback from your colleagues (anonymous or not). Be open to criticism.
โข Question your beliefs about what you know and what you donโt yet know.
โข Keep learning.
There is no need to become insecure and doubtful about your abilities. But realize information is power.
And, a few weeks after International Womenโs Day, for managers and organisations, I also want to call out the ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐น๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ. It describes how many women in organisations work below their level of competence. Using objective data can help us counter this
So, identify the skills critical for your role and the next. Use data and feedback for an honest assessment, and then, take action.
Your future-you will thank you for it.
