Increasing self-confidence and team confidence
Confidence is often mistaken as a feeling. Often, leaders hesitate to make a decision or take action because they do not feel confident. A better definition of confidence is the willingness to try something new despite your fear.
We know that any new skill, whether that is trying a new sport, or leading a team for the first time, takes time to learn and master. With practice and “putting in the reps,” leaders grow their confidence in how to engage their team and lead effectively. The problem is when leaders stop themselves from taking action because they don’t feel ready, as they will never feel ready to try something new. Just like you can’t learn to ride a bike by reading about it and preparing for it, leadership involves trying out leading, engaging, and interacting with others.
Some techniques that are effective for building confidence include:
Reframe fear
Fear is false evidence appearing real. Our brains often fuse onto negative thoughts (it helped us survive as a species) and fear can send us into a negative spiral. One of the most useful methods for building confidence is to interrupt that negative thinking loop. One visualization exercise involves picturing each thought as a leaf floating down a stream. As you close your eyes, observe each one of your thoughts as a leaf floating down the stream. Eventually, you will uncover a negative thought. Calling out that thought—like, “Hey here is a doom and gloom thought,” or “another judging thought,” or “a protecting thought—will help you distance yourself and defuse from the negative thought. With regular practice of this visualization, during times of stress, you will be able to avoid fusing to negative thoughts when under pressure and take more confident action.
Practice, practice, practice
No one wants to hear this, but there is a reason that the masters of any field are so skilled and often confident in their capabilities. Think about Michael Jordan. He didn’t make his high school basketball team, but he practiced and practiced, taking thousands of shots, and became one of the best in the field. Think about Tiger Woods, who picked up his first golf club at the age of 18 months, practicing for hours with his father at a young age. By assessing what is working well and what areas you can improve in each day, you will improve and become more confident. Progress is incremental and you will get better. Imagine getting better by 1% each day on a focused skill: you will be 365% stronger by the end of the year.
Treat yourself like a friend
Most of us are much more critical and judgmental of our own performance than we ever are of a friend or a co-worker. By practicing self-compassion each day and focusing on our wins and what went well, we create a much more supportive narrative for increasing performance and confidence over time. It is important that you do not expect perfection of yourself as that is an unrealistic standard, and you will never be able to meet it sustainably over time.
PowerUp Leadership is focused on creating inspired leadership to increase employee performance. We do this through our leadership development programs that include training, coaching, and assessments, as well as our HR membership portal for unlimited HR support. Confidence building is one of the modules in our public leadership development program.
Learn more about PowerUp Leadership at:
powerupleadership.ca