I was watching a mentor of mine, Mike Crandall, as he taught on the subject of learning. He was demonstrating the process for mastering a subject. This particular subject was sales, which happens to be one of my favorites. But this process will work with anything that you decide to master.
Allow me to walk you briefly, through the process. He used the acronym A.K.A.S.H. - So I borrowed it!
Five steps to Mastery.
- Awareness - For us to master a subject, we must first realize that there is a blind-spot. This is simple ignorance of the truth, a lack of awareness that there is a solution, or a better way.
- Knowledge - Now aware that there's a lack of knowing, it's time to seek knowledge. Seeking knowledge requires us to plug into someone who is further along in the process than us. It could be a trainer, a mentor, a book, a video or the like. Important; gaining knowledge is not a 1-shot deal, it takes time and practice.
- Application - Let's put our learning to work. Here's where we apply the learning. It's important to understand that we must be willing to be bad at first to get good. Many will end the journey here. Failure becomes a stumbling block. To gain mastery, turn your stumbling block into a stepping stone. Push through.
- Skill - Correct application + time creates skill. Skill practiced over and over should bring improvement. Be careful; someone said that practice makes perfect which is not true. Perfect practice makes perfect. Practice the right things on your way to mastery.
- Mastery - If you haven't given up, and you have done the work consistently and persistently, you may have arrived at mastery. Welcome!
Sounds easy, it's likely not, but simple... it is!
Think about driving a car. At some point you became aware that driving was an option. You sought and received knowledge. You applied that knowledge and grew your skills. Today you drove without thinking about which pedal makes the car go and which makes it stop. Ah, mastery! Let your insurance company know that they can lower your rates now!
What, in your world do you need to get better at?
Good! That's awareness! Now you're only 4 steps away!
If it's sales or sales leadership... let's talk. Oh, I can also walk you through smoking a mean rack of baby back ribs! Outside of that... I'm not your guy! ;-)
