Landry Fields: Making Peace with the Pit

Landry Fields played 5 seasons in the NBA and is the GM of the Atlanta Hawks. In an interview with Brett Ledbetter and What Drives Winning, he says when working with his young guys, he likes to map out a journey of development that everyone goes through that is a mix of The 4 Stages of Competence and The Hero’s Journey.

The 4 Stages of Competence is a model that describes the learning process, including the inevitable need to overcome struggles and obstacles.

He says this helps bring language to our experiences and the feelings that come with those feelings.

Here are the 4 stages:

Stage 1: Unconscious Incompetence: Blind Confidence

You have blind confidence because you don’t know what you don’t know, and your excitement and innocence have not been tarnished by struggle or reality.

This is like a rookie being drafted into the NBA or someone getting a new, great opportunity.

Stage 2: Conscious Incompetence: No Confidence

He calls this The Fall. When you face obstacles and adversity, you fall into the pit where you realize there is so much you don’t know and don’t know how to do, which leads to a blow to the ego and a loss of confidence.

Here, you have to figure out what you want to do - will you make excuses and stay stuck, will you lie, cheat, and steal your way out of it, or will you learn and grow your way out of it the right way so you character grows with your skill and confidence?

This is like a rookie realizing he is going to have to come off the bench for the first time.

Stage 3: Conscious Competence: Sober Confidence

You know what you need to get better and how to do it.

This is when you accept that you have to fight your way to the top and you know what you have to do to get there.

Stage 4: Unconscious Competence: Mature Confidence

You are in the flow state where you can do what you want and need to do without thinking about it.

This is when you have figured it out and have confidently earned your spot.

Building Your Team

Landry then says to get through the 4 stages, “You need someone beyond you, beside you, and behind you.”

Find a guide or mentor who will help lead you, a teammate that you can go through the journey with, and someone with whom you can share what you are going through and learning.

Making Peace With the Pit

Brett asks him to explain further what it means to make peace with the pit. Landry says it means being honest about where you are and having the humility to accept where you are.

Then, give yourself time to get the reps in that you need to get better, and surround yourself with people and resources who are going to help you climb out of it.

Landy says one of the things that makes it hard to climb out of the pit is the science behind how our brains work. Our brains want to hold on to energy and not give it away, and it takes a lot of energy to change ourselves, our thoughts, and our habits, so often, we would rather stay the same than exert the energy needed to change.

How Do We Get Them Out of the Pit

When asked how he helps get his athletes out of the pit, Landy says he tries to be a good mirror and ask good questions. Landry asks himself, “How can I ask necessary questions for them to see themselves in a sober light?”

He says it can take a lot of questions to unearth what they are fighting and what they need, but this is the first step to helping them get out of the pit.

Then, get them to understand that they have gone into and have come out of the pit before and that the pit is a necessary and important part of their growth.

Brett says he works with the Navy Seals, and to be a Navy Seal, you have to be traumatized.

It breaks you down to fertile soil so that you are in a place where you can input into that person what you need for them to grow into becoming who they can become.

We are either inspired to change or forced to change, and some people won’t change unless they are stuck in the pit. When you have people who are in their own way, you sometimes have to knock them down to the bottom to get them to realize how much they need to change. 

We all experience the different stages of competence many times in our lives. The key is knowing where you are and having the mindset to keep growing and keep going.