BY RICHARD B. GASAWAY
Capable. Skilled. Experienced. Proficient. These are all words that describe a highly qualified leader and can be summarized in one word: competent. All of us want to work for competent leaders. Likewise, if we are leaders, we want to be competent in our jobs. Competency helps leaders build and maintain self-confidence and self-esteem.
Oftentimes in the volunteer fire service, officers assume positions (through elections or appointments) they are not qualified to hold. Very few volunteer departments have a plan for officer succession or a formal training program for those who aspire to be officers. More often, it is assumed that the new officer will develop the needed skills through on-the-job training. Contrary to what some would like to believe, a helmet with a different color doesn’t automatically make someone competent. Competency must be developed.
There are four phases a person goes through in developing competency.
Phase 1: Unconscious incompetence. In this phase, the person is unaware of his behavior just as a person who is unconscious is unaware of his surroundings. “Incompetence” describes the status of someone who is not capable, skilled, experienced, or proficient as an officer. An unconsciously incompetent person doesn’t know what he’s doing; this person is so inexperienced that he doesn’t even realize what he doesn’t know that he should know. Remember that when we first joined the fire department, we were not only unskilled and inexperienced, but in many ways we weren’t even aware of all the things we didn’t know.
A newly appointed officer who has no previous experience in supervising or commanding personnel is unconsciously incompetent—unaware of the responsibilities of an officer he doesn’t even know he ought to know. Hopefully, leaders don’t spend too much time in Phase 1.
Some of us might think that we know officers who’ve spent years at this level. But each of us learns at a different pace. In truth, someone with enthusiasm for learning shouldn’t spend much time in Phase 1. The actual time depends on how active that person is in learning about his new role as an officer.
Phase 2: Conscious incompetence. Here, the person is aware of his behavior and shortcomings but is still not skilled, experienced, or proficient. The difference is he is now aware of what he doesn’t know.
Recall again when we first joined the fire department and attended basic firefighter training. At some point, the lightbulb in our head should have come on as we realized there was a lot we didn’t know about what it takes to be a firefighter. At that point, we became vividly aware of what we didn’t know—we became consciously incompetent.
As we settle into our officer role, we become aware of all the things we don’t know, realize we have much to learn, and are eager and open-minded to learn from our experiences and from others willing to teach us. It’s really important in this phase not to let our ego get in the way of learning.
For some, it’s more important to “appear” knowledgeable about a topic because they fear being viewed as incompetent. This happens sometimes when a newer officer becomes aware (or conscious) of his own incompetence and wishes to cover up what he doesn’t know in the hope that others won’t notice.
Think about a child who has a scar on his forehead from a bicycle accident. A younger child is not too concerned about outward appearances or what other people may think of him, so he doesn’t think much about it. But, as the child gets older, he becomes more and more aware of the scar’s presence and how others view him, so he tries to cover it up. Sometimes newer officers do the same thing. Instead of being comfortable with who they are (and what they don’t know), they work hard to cover it up, which is symptomatic of a lack of self-esteem.
If the officer is confident and has self-esteem, the time spent in the conscious incompetence phase can be exciting and rewarding. The officer is eager to take advantage of every learning opportunity and is open to admitting areas of deficiency. Learning comes easily because the officer isn’t uptight about what he doesn’t know and isn’t overly concerned about what others think of him.
Phase 3: Conscious competence. In this phase the officer has become skilled, experienced, and proficient—and he knows it. He has received training and experience, is well aware of his abilities to make good decisions, and is confident about his leadership skills. Although he is good at what he does and is aware of it, he remains humble, not cocky.
This can be a very rewarding time for officers. As they confront problems and challenges, they consciously recall their training and the experiences they can draw on to assist them in making decisions. The conscious competence phase may last for months or years, depending on the complexity of the problems encountered.
The more training and experience we obtain as officers, the more successful we will be in decision making and problem solving. Because we are conscious of our learning, we realize how much we have learned, and we become comfortable in putting that knowledge and experience to work. As our successes grow, so will our self-confidence and self-esteem.
Phase 4: Unconscious competence. In this stage, an officer is unaware of just how capable, skilled, experienced, and proficient he has become. It’s the final stage of competency development. It’s like driving a car: The driving has become second nature to the driver to the point where his mind often wanders to other things and he sort of drives on autopilot. Many of us have experienced this in the middle of the night when we were awakened for a call, got dressed, and drove to the station. As we think about it later, we have little (or no) recall of the drive to the station. That’s because we’ve developed an unconscious competency for driving. We use our training, experience, instincts, and intuition to drive without giving much thought to how we do it.
Leaders who have practiced decision making and problem solving for years develop unconscious competence in their ability to lead an organization, and it becomes second nature. We’ve all seen officers and incident commanders who make very difficult tasks look so easy and effortless. For them, it has become easy and effortless because their competence is at the unconscious level of thinking. Instinct and intuition guide their actions through routine tasks.
A good example of this is watching an experienced magician performing card tricks. He is so practiced and so experienced that his sleight-of-hand tricks actually appear to be magic to us. We know there’s no way to make a card actually disappear, but the magician’s effortless expertise causes us wonder how he did it. Leaders with unconscious competence also do their “magic” so effortlessly that it sometimes leaves us wondering, “How did they do it?”
As we understand and appreciate how our members develop their expertise as they pass through the phases of competency development, we’ll be in a better position to coach them to success and to be patient and understanding as they strive to develop unconscious competency.
RICHARD B. GASAWAY, a 24-year veteran of the fire service, is chief of the Roseville (MN) Fire Department. He is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program and is an International Association of Fire Chiefs accredited chief fire officer. Gasaway has a master’s degree in business administration.
