End of the first full working week in 2024. Yikes!!! Only 51 more to go 😊.
With the clock already counting down, how are you getting on with your goals for 2024? I hope you’re powering through them and still feeling fired up for the year ahead.
But, even at this early point in 2024, you know there’ll be tough times. No year flows smoothly and there’ll be days when it all seems a bit of a struggle.
That’s why, this month, I’m focussing on the meta-skill that you can count on to get you through, both when the terrain’s easy and when the hurdles seem insurmountable.
If you read my blogs and emails regularly, you already know what it is! It’s Mastering Confidence.
Twenty-five years of coaching executives and 30+ of researching what really leads to consistent results have shown me that confidence is the number one factor that turns good enough into outstanding. In fact, it’s so important that I’m writing a book on it right now, to be released later this year.
But I’d like to help you get ahead of the game – so in this week’s blog, I’m giving you a sneak peek into five of the top 10 strategies that you should work on right now. I’ll share strategies 6 – 10 next time.
So, here goes with strategies 1 – 5.
No. 1 Understand what confidence is
Ask 20 leaders if confidence is important: they’ll all say: ‘yes.’ Ask 20 leaders to define confidence, and they’ll all give you a different, probably vague, answer.
Confidence is an over-used but rarely understood concept. Because of this, leaders don’t recognise how often lack of confidence is holding them back, distorting their behaviours and undermining results.
No. 2 Recognise just how much confidence permeates every aspect of your leadership success
Confidence in yourself, in your team, in your organisations’ systems and processes, in your boss or your Board; your customers’ confidence in your organisation, your team’s confidence in you, your boss’s confidence in you… if any one of these are undermined, the results you achieve are undermined too.
No. 3 Challenge unhelpful beliefs
Every leader I have worked with has been held back by unhelpful beliefs. But, because their beliefs are intrinsic to how they see the world they aren’t even aware of their damaging impact. From leaders whose careers stalled because they were too aggressive or too passive, to leaders who were micro-managing their teams, to those who were setting out to achieve big new goals and weren’t completely sure how, this was the first thing they needed to work on.
No. 4 Differentiate between self-esteem and self-confidence
These two concepts are used interchangeably but they’re quite different. Self-esteem is the fundamental belief that you are a worthwhile human being who deserves your place on this planet. Self-confidence is situation specific and fluctuates from day-to-day. Misunderstanding this difference leaves leaders blind to the times when their confidence is low, and therefore to the impact that this is having on their performance, and the performance of everyone they impact.
No. 5 Understand and value the two pillars of self-confidence – control and power
When we have control and power in any situation, our confidence is solid. However, when we lose control or feel powerless, our confidence plummets. Understanding the control and power you have will ensure you use them judiciously and competently to build your confidence, and the confidence of others around you.
These strategies derive from 25 years of coaching successful leaders and ensuring they achieve outstanding results. Start to put these into practice straight away so that you, too, can see results asap.