Confidence

Happy Monday!  What better way to start the week than with some words of wisdom on confidence from Joe Namath.   Confidence is truly the secret ingredient that allows great things to happen.  Without confidence and belief in yourself there is really no way to achieve your goals in business or in life.

As leaders, confidence is the name of the game.  If you are going to lead a team, you better project confidence if you want people to follow.  If you can project to your team confidence in your skills, your preparation, your plan and your vision, you are well on your way to winning.

Of course, there is a thin line between confidence and cockiness.  Being confident and humble in equal measures is the true goal.  As we talked about earlier, owning mistakes, asking questions and showing vulnerability are also important.  Displaying humility and confidence in equal measure will get a team fired up to follow you.

So many of the problems leaders get themselves into stem from the opposite of confidence: insecurity.  More often than not, the leader who is no fun to be around, has an insecurity issue.  This lack of confidence, is what causes managers to yell and belittle, or play games.  You have all seen managers who constantly need to show everyone they are boss.  Where do you think this comes from?

Having confidence in yourself is one thing.  If you want to lead, you need to go further, and figure out how to give your team confidence in themselves.  If you want servers to sell a special, you better make sure they are confident into how to describe it.  If you want the work environment to be fun, you better make sure everyone on the team has confidence in each other.

But, how do you build confidence if you are not the most confident person?  First, do your homework.  It is a lot easier to be confident when you feel prepared.  Once your preparation is done, remember confidence is skill that can be developed.  Here is a little exercise I heard about recently on a podcast called “the Art of Charm” https://theartofcharm.com/ by Jordan Harbinger.  I encourage you to try this out this week:  every time you walk through any doorway this week do these 3 things:  1.  Stand up straight with your chest up and shoulders back  2.  Take a deep breath  3.  Smile.  This one is a little harder than, “go first.”  It takes some effort to remember.  But, when you do remember, this effect is pretty powerful.  Give it a shot.

This week, walk tall and confident in your shoes, and look for ways to help others stand tall in theirs!  Have a great week!!!