When it comes to achieving police promotion in UK forces, most cops start from a position of incompetence. Sergeant, Inspector and Chief Inspector promotion candidates often ‘don’t know what they don’t know’ when it comes to the police promotion process.
This is something recognised in learning theory, so it’s good to recognise there are lots of ‘knowns and unknowns’ to your career progression through the ranks before you dive in. In this free blog, I’ll explain more to set you on your way…
“I am, as I’ve said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.” – Billy Joel
Known (In)Competence!
“As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” – Donald Rumsfeld
I should explain we are talking here about Kolb’s learning model. Understanding the stages, akin to Rumsfeld’s now infamous (and often ridiculed) ‘Known Knowns’ speech, can help you through the torrid uncertainties of preparing for promotion.
With the Kolb model, learners move from a stage of ‘unconscious incompetence’ through a cycle to become ‘unconsciously competent’. This is a cognitive process whereby a person progresses through each of the four stages. Kolb’s experiential learning theory works on two levels: a four-stage cycle of learning and four separate learning styles.
Know Where You Are Now?
“We do not have to know how to do something to be able to do it. We learned to walk, run, ride a bike and catch a ball without instructions.” – Sir John Whitmore
I see police officers come for guidance through all stages of Kolb’s learning cycle, as I outline below.
UNCONSCIOUSLY INCOMPETENT
Using a driving analogy, when people are very young and before learning to drive a car, they know little about vehicles or how they work: all they know is that they see cars go past with people in them. This is a stage akin to ‘blissful ignorance’, or the ‘unknown unknowns’. Yet it’s only “unknown” only to the uninitiated of course!
This is the most unfortunate stage if hoping to succeed in promotion; it alludes to simply ‘winging it’ (and failing)! Officers will often seek guidance from equally uninformed colleagues who, although well intentioned, may be similarly ‘in the dark’ about the in-force promotion process, desired leadership behaviours or even what wider guidance is available.
CONSCIOUSLY INCOMPETENT
Continuing the ‘learning to drive’ analogy, this is where a student is first aware of various controls in the car that have something to do with driving. The foot pedals, the gearstick, steering wheel and such. These are the ‘known unknowns’.
This is about knowing where to seek support and recognising there is clear guidance out there, it’s just you haven’t looked at them yet. You suddenly become aware of all the information you know you don’t know!
CONSCIOUSLY COMPETENT
Navigating your way through these ‘known knowns’, smartly focusing on the right information, beginning to read, practice and prepare ahead is where you start your journey of competence towards achieving promotion.
This is akin to the ‘Learner Driver’ grasping the idea of how the controls work and using them to drive, albeit ‘kangarooing’ down the road and grinding the clutch a little. Either way, they are developing competence. Improvements start to show over time. With more practice they are ready to take their driving test. They conduct the test in a state of ‘conscious competence’; able to safely navigate the road ahead, but meticulously recalling everything they learned to date, like ’10 to 2’ and ‘mirror, signal, manoeuvre’. After success and regular journeys, they move towards…
UNCONSCIOUSLY COMPETENT
The driver is no longer a learner, not even needing a green ‘P’ to warn others they’re new to this. They drive as a matter of habit, able to use their inbuilt ‘autopilot’ whilst listening to music or having a conversation with passengers. Driving has become instinctive and intuitive.
This unconscious competence is where you as a promotion candidates should aim to be. It’s about moving away from envisioning a promotion board, interview, assessment or application process as something to ‘dread’. Instead, developing to a level of confidence and even excitement at the prospect of your opportunity to shine.
“You didn’t grow up driving, you figured it out.” – Gary Vaynerchuck
But why is all this useful to know? It is important because it is always the best prepared candidates who achieve promotion and get this, they learned how to do it!
Developing Your Confidence
There’s a simple equation I emphasise within my leading masterclasses to summarise confidence in promotion boards:
Experience + Knowledge = Confidence
Most cops possess extensive operational experience. Some even have Acting or Temporary promotion experience. But it’s the knowledge of the promotion process and knowing how to apply that experience in the context of promotion selection processes where confidence falters and interview nerves kick in.
This is where most candidates benefit from structured support in moving through Kolb’s Competence cycle. I understand cops are busy and time poor, so Rank Success materials help you do this in the fastest way possible. Practice and reflection helps bolster that knowledge further, even if your force advises against practicing.
Many forces require aspiring promotion candidates to submit a written application to evidence their ‘readiness’ for promotion. This can be in various formats and word limits e.g. Strict assessment against four or six of the competencies in the Competence and Values Framework (CVF). Alternatively a mix and match of CVF behaviours and/values. Again, it could be questions such as: Why should you be promoted? Why now? Set this out in five hundred hundred words in a letter to the Chief Constable and submit via your line supervisor by deadline.
This is where vast cohorts of aspiring cops try to ‘pull something together’ in a short timescale. Then they overtly demonstrate their level of unconscious or conscious incompetence.
The thing is being incompetent is OK! Recognising this now, well before any promotion selection process opens, is the time to move through Kolb’s levels of competence. This can be done very quickly indeed with the right information, support and a little bit of practice and reflection. Here’s my podcast episode in which I cover how to get ahead of your own incompetence.
What is Your Learning Style?
“The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.” – B.B. King
Now you know that you must learn some things to become competent, to fast track this it’s helpful to know your preferred style. Indeed, knowing yourself is an essential part of being emotionally aware as per the CVF competency!
To learn, we depend on our senses to process information. There are three main types of ‘dominant’ learning styles are:
- Visual (seeing): Absorbs and retains information more effectively when presented in images, graphics or illustrations.
- Auditory (listening): Responds best to voices, listening to podcasts, presentations or discussion.
- Kinaesthetic (feeling): A ‘hands on’ approach is the preference, using props, touching and feeling, aids the learning experience.
Some scholars add in a fourth, ‘reading/writing’, clearly linked to the visual sense but to account for those individuals who like information in textual form, like in books, blogs and essays. For example, do you prefer being read to or reading something for yourself?
Together, all four styles make the acronym VARK. Given the diversity of my audience in terms of how information is best absorbed, this is why Rank Success offers an array of free and premium content. Whether it’s my blogs, books, podcasts, infographics, masterclasses, or videos, all will help you achieve your dreams and become a better police leader.
The Kolb Expansion
Kolb expands on these learning styles with some overlapping aspects, relating to the more immersive cognitive processes. I summarise them below. As you read them and towards better knowing yourself, consider: Do any of these sound like you?
- Diverging (feeling and watching): These individuals can look at things from different perspectives. They prefer to watch rather than do, tending to gather information and use imagination to solve problems. They are best at viewing concrete situations from several different viewpoints.
- Assimilating (watching and thinking): The assimilating learning preference involves a succinct, rational approach. These individuals require strong explanation rather than a practical opportunity. They excel at understanding wide-ranging information and organising it in a clear, logical format.
- Converging (doing and thinking): Individuals with a converging learning style can solve problems. They will use their learning to find solutions to practical issues. They prefer technical tasks. Those with a converging learning style are best at finding practical uses for ideas and theories. They can solve problems and make decisions by finding solutions to questions and problems.
- Accommodating (doing and feeling) This learning style is ‘hands-on,’. It relies on intuition rather than logic. These individuals use other people’s analysis and prefer to take a practical, experiential approach. They are attracted to new challenges and experiences, and commonly act on ‘gut’ instinct rather than logical analysis. Individuals with an accommodating learning style will tend to rely on others for information rather than carry out their own analysis. This learning style is prevalent within the general population.
In reality, we may adopt a ‘mix and match’ approach between these styles, so understanding your learning preference helps support your choice of which methods you may adopt in your promotion preparation.
You might take a whole different approach to learning styles! So, how do you learn? At Rank Success I provide a mix of videos/blogs/podcasts for a reason!
If you’re interested in the academic theory behind learning, here’s a recent article driving a coach & horses through some of the established models of learning styles I’ve outlined above. Interesting food for thought!
But ultimately, giving yourself a head start comes down to understanding yourself and knowing your own preference(s). This self-awareness doesn’t just align with good leadership practice and the CVF; it’ll give you the edge over the competition in your promotion process!
Room for Reflection
“That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you’ve understood all your life, but in a new way.” – Doris Lessing
The process that brings everything together is the reflection period.
You’ve probably heard that word before. ‘Reflective Learning’ or ‘Reflective Practice’ seem to be current buzzwords in police- and College-provided leadership CPD. Indeed, the concepts are assessed under the CVF and integral to the new SIPP promotion process being tested. Yet this is just a new expression of an old idea. So what does it mean exactly?
Kolb’s wide-ranging learning model highlights the importance of reflection in the learning cycle, allowing the learner to process ‘what just happened’ during the experience. Stages are mutually supportive, and learners can enter Kolb’s cycle at any stage, but effective learning only occurs when accomplishing all four stages. Here’s a summary of how that works:
- Concrete experience: Having a concrete experience can change your perspective on the whole nature and topic of police promotion. For those attending a promotion masterclass for example, this happens a lot. Even taking notes helps cement learning.
- Reflective observation: Whether musing over digital toolkits, doing some wider reading as part of your CPD, or reflecting on tailored promotion materials, at this point officers experience ‘lightbulb moments’ on what they can do differently.
- Abstract conceptualisation: This is the joining together of ideas, the formation of thoughts and concepts about promotion, which hadn’t existed in that way before. Candidates can analyse the various sources of information and options, then draw conclusions about what to do next.
- Active experimentation: This new information can be used to test out hypotheses, for example through practice and rehearsal of interview responses. This results in new thoughts and experiences, while incrementally building confidence as you hone your preparation.
For the keen readers out there, you might also want to explore the Gibbs reflective cycle. While the Kolb model describes what’s going on and how folk differ or process things, the Gibbs approach offers a template with practical prompts to help you work through experiences and events.
Reflecting on Success…
Here are some real-life examples that allude to the power of this reflective process. Can you recognise the stages of Kolb’s learning cycle in the experience of these successful officers?
“Prior to watching the Masterclass I was very much focused on my evidence and me. I didn’t look beyond. The class helped me look at the bigger picture, think more about the organisation and how my focus should be about how my experience fits into the needs of the police service. It completely changed how I looked at everything and it was like the penny just dropped” – Ann, new Sgt
“I applied for promotion three times with my force and was unsuccessful each time. From wanting to give up and thinking it may not be for me, I attended Steve’s promotion masterclass where I got to grips with how and what I needed to do. I tried one final time, applying for Inspector vacancies in three different forces; all had different processes. I was successful in each paper sift and was invited to interviews/assessment centres. Steve’s guides helped me prepare for my presentations, briefings and formal interviews. I passed all three promotion boards, coming top in two processes… going from three failures to a choice of three forces! I wish I could take all the positions offered but have to decide where is my career best suited!” – Deepak
“I am confident and competent operationally, but nothing in policing has taught me about police promotion interviews or what the role of Sergeant actually is. Naively, without Steve’s one to one session I would have gone into my promotion board without knowing these things. However, with this information there were no surprises in the interview, and I was able to show with confidence that I absolutely knew what is expected of a Sergeant. These key elements undoubtedly helped me pass my board first attempt.” – Jon
Kolb’s learning cycle describes the journey thousands of police promotion candidates undertake every year, seeking to reach a ‘state of readiness’ necessary to convert personal leadership aspirationsinto promotion success. Many fall short of the mark and never discover why or even understand where they are in Kolb’s cycle.
Don’t make the same mistake! Get your personal Rank Success promotion toolkit to move to unconscious competence.
Kind Regards, Steve
Seeking police promotion? Want to get a massive head start right now? Hit the ground running with your personal digital promotion toolkit, and/or my market-leading Police Promotion Masterclass. There’s nothing else like it to effectively prepare you for success in your leadership aspirations. You can also contact me to arrange more personal coaching support. Or try my podcast for your ongoing police leadership CPD covering a range of fascinating subjects.
