The only time your sales or development training maximizes its potential is when it’s fully integrated into the culture of the organization. Therefore, the influence must include follow-up support that lasts long enough for new habits to develop.
The problem is leaders rarely allow training to last long enough for integration to occur.

And, here’s the part no one ever thinks about. For the training to be fully integrated into the culture, the leader must be trained as well. There are two reasons why this is so. First, the leader is the one who ultimately must recognize, reward, and reinforce the new behavior and mindsets. And second, people must see their leader model the new behavior; otherwise they’ll revert back to old habits and belief systems.

In the outline below, you will learn about a powerful model that we call the Cycle of Performance, which will support your people to step up their level of performance:

Cycle of Performance

These are the four phases that everyone goes through whenever they learn something new.

1. Inception

The beginning of change, a project, or a goal when you’re excited and feel that nothing can stop you. At this stage, you’re “unconsciously incompetent,” but your confidence and commitment are high.

2. Deception

The phase when you’ve lost your enthusiasm and you start saying things like, “I don’t think I can do this.” This is where people normally quit. In this stage, you are “consciously incompetent” and your confidence and commitment are low.

3. Transformation

This is the transitional phase of performance. You either go backwards to deception or you move forward to identity. If you keep moving forward you progress toward becoming “consciously competent.” You’re starting to do the right things. If you persevere you get to…

4. Identity

This is the phase where you “own” it. You don’t have to think about it anymore, you just do it. You are “unconsciously competent,” and your confidence and commitment are high.

The Cycle of Performance gives you and your people a road map to understand what everyone on this planet goes through in order to grow. Once your people understand this model, they will have a much higher probability of success. Why? Because they’ll know how to avoid getting caught up in Deception. They’ll understand that all growth is accompanied by some pain. So instead of letting it interrupt their growth, they’ll realize that deception is part of the process–a necessary part of growth. They’ll start to look forward to the other phases, knowing that all they have to do is keep moving forward to get there. We use the Cycle of Performance to teach how a person’s identity is ingrained.

Six Categories of Deception.

There are six types of identities we can assume that are actually resistant to change and growth. When we have these identities, we can get permanently caught in Deception.

1. The Victim: The victim sees the world as a cold place where negative experiences are to be expected. He feels that the glass is always half empty and it’s not his fault. At a deep level, the victim feels that the world and people can’t be trusted. The victim may not know this consciously, but deep down he believes that whatever he gets will ultimately be taken away.
2. The Pretender: The pretender really feels bad about himself and where he is. He thinks he is basically bad and unworthy, although he often won’t admit it, even to himself. The pretender consciously puts a mask on so the other people will see only what he wants them to see. He’s at a level in his career or relationships that he doesn’t feel he really deserves. He drives himself thinking that when he finally reaches a certain level he will finally feel good about himself.
3. The Rut Dweller: The rut dweller consciously allows his bad habits to run his life. He knows he is in a rut, but he doesn’t have the energy or drive to move out of it. He is stuck but he doesn’t blame others for it. He is a smart, aware thinker who has great potential, but consciously makes choices that keep him from growing. He is habitually lazy. He says, “I know what I should be doing”…but he doesn’t do it.
4. The Fear Seeker: The fear seeker looks for certainty at all costs. His primary motivating force is his need for consistency, for things to stay the way they are, the way they have always been. He wants to change and the process makes sense to him. It’s fun for him to think about growing, but he wants to feel how it will feel, experience what he would experience, and know what it entails before he has to do it. The fear seeker often lives in the Deception phase because it gives him certainty.
5. The Stressed Achiever: The stressed achiever has taken massive action and has achieved massive results. He forces himself to a high level in his career. But the joy he thought he’d find after pushing so hard was not there. In recognizing his accomplishments, he feels significant because he sees that very few people actually achieve at his level. The achiever constantly wants to grow, even at the expense of his health. He is achieving to be happy, instead of happily achieving.
6. The Success Seeker: The success seeker is constantly looking for growth, both internally and externally. He may start by making external changes until he understands that real progress happens with internal changes. The problem is, he is addicted to the Inception phase of growth, which is exciting. But when he hits the Deception stage of change, rather than buckling down and going inward to change, he goes in search of another method that may not be so hard. So he ends up always looking.

The Six Categories of Deception shows you what behaviors and patterns you can expect from individuals on your team as they hit Deception. Once you recognize the identity each person is assuming (i.e., victim, fear seeker, etc.), you can use the model to show you exactly what to say and do to help him or her move into Transformation, and ultimately into a new Identity.