Competence is understood by everyone as being critical to professional achievement, success in the workplace, and even personal satisfaction. However, competence can only take you so far if you lack confidence. Unfortunately, confidence is lacking in very many perfectly capable leaders.
Building your confidence doesn’t need a complete overhaul of your personality. Instead, you can take smaller steps to boost your confidence and become more self-assured.
Here are some of the key actions that you can take:
1. Pushing yourself out of the comfort zone
Volunteer for projects to help you acquire new skills. Apply for jobs that match your interests even though they feel like a stretch. Sign up to speak or make a presentation at an event and tackle your fear of public speaking head-on. When we believe we can’t do things we limit ourselves, however these beliefs are no more than a form of instinct and can be changes as this post from Mind Persuasion shows.
2. Visualize what you desire as a critical first step to meeting new challenges
For instance, visualize yourself in the role that you would like to achieve. As part of their swing, golfers are often advised to visualize where the ball needs to travel. If you imagine yourself in the role that you desire, you will be able to create that vision for the people around you too. Get into character to give yourself a head start. If you wish to take on an executive role, you should act, talk, and dress like an executive would.
3. Assessing your competencies
Note down all the skills you are bringing to the table. You should not forget to include the broader talents that can be critical to the success of your organization both now as well as in the future.
The CEO of Cotential, Erica Dhawan, recently spoke at the Women’s Leadership Summit co-sponsored by PwC and SAP about the power of connectional intelligence. Dhawan said that connectional intelligence can help companies drive breakthrough business results by combining the diversity of people, resources, disciplines, and networks in the world.
4. Creating your own environment
Reshape the workplace when it does not meet your needs through your actions instead of simply moving on. Work with the team in a true and honest way, confidently sharing your competencies. If you do this, you will be able to brand yourself within the organization and start attracting people whose values are similar to those of your team. As your team grows to include more people with a mindset similar to yours, your environment will transform to one where you want to work.
5. Get others to instill confidence in you
People that manage to cut through bureaucracy to make quick decisions are often rewarded for being confident enough to get the work done. According to a recent study, 62 percent of business leaders say that complicated processes overburden them, which inhibits performance and productivity. Tackle some of these projects by raising your hand. Once your peers realize that you can solve problems, they will instill confidence within you. You will realize your full potential if you get others to reinforce this belief.
6. Faking it until you make it
In the story of Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robins tells Winnie that he us smarter than he thinks, stronger than he seems, and braver than he believes. In the same spirit, you might be more competent than you actually realize. So, start acting like you know it all. If you adopt this mindset, you will be able to take more risks and start overcoming your fear of failure.
7. Be the change that you wish to see
Once you take the necessary steps to build confidence, you should not forget to give another person a hand up. You can use peer coaching to create positive change by partnering with others.
Find somebody that works closely with you to see you in action. Every week, give positive feedback to each other on the strengths that you have each exhibited. If you refuse to accept self-critical behavior and help each other to eliminate blind spots, you will be able to enhance one another’s confidence. Better still, you will be helping your peer advance his/her prospects while freeing talent to benefit your organization.
