Learning Stages for Developing Leadership Skills

The five learning stages are the path a new skill travels from first exposure to lasting habit: learning it, developing it, applying it, adapting it to new situations, and finally replacing the old habit it stands in for. Most skills stall at stage 3, where they feel uncomfortable, unless you add support.

Learning is a journey. Every new skill, concept, and idea needs to be considered and then take root. Even if when we accept the idea of the skill, we are still not competent. Competence comes with repeated correct practice, or trial and error, learning from each new experience. As a learning and development leader in your organization, you want to help new and developing leaders avoid trial and error. You want to provide the correct tools and information to guide them past the mistakes and make the right competent decisions in the many unique situations they will be tested against. With that goal in mind, let’s look at five learning stages for developing a skill.

1. Learning a new skill
2. Developing a skill
3. Applying a newly learned skill
4. Adapting a newly learned skill to unique situations
5. Replacing old comfortable skills with a new one

5 STAGES OF LEARNING 

STAGE 1 – LEARNING A NEW SKILL

This stage of learning is the introduction of a skill. The skill could be how to conduct a performance review or how to use a “Yes and…” circle. The new skill will feel foreign and uncomfortable. New skills are often taught in a team development session or classroom. We use “Narrative Immersion” to help ideas sink in faster and with more impact. You may use more traditional methods. The path is the same; skills are introduced and learned at a surface level. It’s like learning the scales on the piano, it’s not music, but technically you’re playing the instrument.

STAGE 2 – DEVELOPING A SKILL

Here is where competence starts to develop. Think of learning how to play tennis as an example. In stage 1, you are introduced to the racquet, the ball, the court and the net. In stage 2, you would be shown the rules, how to swing the racquet, and how to serve. You might even practice a little rally with your coach to get a feel for how the ball hits the racquet. Back to our performance review example, we might learn about “Sandwiching Criticism”, using “Feel, Felt, Found” or “WYSIITMB” as more in-depth tools than just the performance form we need to fill out after meeting with a team member. In the development session, we might even role play to get a feel for how the performance conversation might go. All of this is not an actual application, and yet some competence is starting to build.

STAGE 3 – APPLYING A NEWLY LEARNED SKILL.

It’s during this stage of training and development where the new skill feels most uncomfortable. This is the first or second time the new skill has been used without a safety net. It feels foreign, and we might report back that using the new skill felt robotic and insincere. We are at a critical point in the development of the skill. It would be easy to move to old habits and old ways of doing things. The new skill feels less effective because we still have low competence, and as a result, we might abandon it. You can avoid this by providing support right when your leaders need it. Create “Brain Trust” mentoring circles so that peers can reinforce and support each other in the new skill. Use timely coaching to help them prepare for stage 4 and get more comfortable applying the new skill regularly. The team will only become competent with practice and review. As a leader, it’s important to explain to your team that uncomfortable feelings are expected during stage 1 and stage 2 so that it’s not a surprise in stage 3. Just like a tennis pro trying a small change in their swing, it feels uncomfortable until enough repetition creates muscle memory, and it becomes natural.

STAGE 4: ADAPTING A NEWLY LEARNED SKILL TO UNIQUE SITUATIONS

Life and work don’t as always play out as expected. We may run into unique situations that become learning opportunities. As a result, we need to apply our new skills to new situations where it does not fit comfortably. As practice, coaching and peer mentorship take hold, and the new skill begins to feel more natural, we apply it to new situations and create new solutions. This is a sign of stronger competence, as we can start to diagnose a situation and use the new skill to solve the problem.

STAGE 5: REPLACING OLD COMFORTABLE SKILLS WITH A NEW ONE

This is when true competence takes hold, and the old skills no longer seem the right choice. The new skill has become the best tool and replaces old patterns. It is an ongoing learning challenge to replace old, entrenched skills with new ways of tackling a problem. Traditional learning environments are not equipped to handle the final three stages needed to have a skill adopted and impact the organization. Tools like “Brain Trust” peer mentoring, coaching, “Practice-Review” sessions and situational aids are all needed to ensure that applying and adapting to a new skill occurs, or you’ll miss the chance to create stronger, more capable leaders. Support after the learning is critical and must be part of the journey for your team — it is also one of the proven ways to retain your best people.

How These Stages Map to the Four Stages of Competence

The classic conscious-competence model moves through four stages: unconscious incompetence (you do not know what you are missing), conscious incompetence (you know the skill is hard), conscious competence (you can do it with effort), and unconscious competence (it is automatic). Learn2’s five stages map onto it. Stage 1 moves you out of unconscious incompetence. Stages 2 and 3 are conscious incompetence and the start of conscious competence — the uncomfortable middle where most people quit. Stage 4 deepens conscious competence as you adapt the skill. Stage 5 reaches unconscious competence, where the new skill replaces the old habit.

HELP YOUR TEAMS GROW THROUGH SKILL DEVELOPMENT 

If you’re looking for help implementing a leadership development program through all stages, the support after the experience is what carries a skill through stages 3, 4, and 5. That is the part most programs skip.

Not sure which stage your team is stuck in? Take the 3-minute leader survey →

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 5 stages of learning a new skill?

The five stages are learning the skill, developing it, applying it, adapting it to unique situations, and replacing the old comfortable habit with the new one. Competence builds across the stages, and the new skill only sticks once it reaches the final stage.

Why does a new skill feel uncomfortable at stage 3?

Stage 3 is the first time the skill is used without a safety net. Competence is still low, so the skill can feel robotic or insincere, and it is tempting to fall back on old habits. Brain Trust mentoring circles and timely coaching are what carry a team through this point.

How long does it take a new skill to become a habit?

It varies by skill and by how much support follows the experience. The skill only reaches the final stage — where it replaces the old comfortable habit — through repeated correct practice, review, and coaching. Traditional one-off sessions rarely get a skill that far on their own.

How do you support a team through all five stages?

Provide support right when leaders need it: Brain Trust peer-mentoring circles, timely coaching, Practice-Review sessions, and situational aids. Naming that stages 1 to 3 feel uncomfortable, before they happen, keeps people from abandoning the skill at the hardest point.