The_Essential_Manager_s_Handbook

148 / LEADING THROUGH CHALLENGES

Improving confidence

Being prepared

Confidence can come in a number

of different ways. It comes from

experience as your track record as a

leader improves. It comes from having

well-formed plans and anticipating

challenges, and it comes from the

knowledge that you have a strong

business built on productive

working relationships.

Confidence is a cornerstone of good leadership. Especially in times of

uncertainty, upheaval, or crisis, believing in yourself and making the

right decisions will give you credibility and integrity, which in turn will

enhance the organization’s reputation and build trust in all stakeholders.

BOOST YOURSELF

Regularly affirm your own

strengths as a leader by

privately listing your abilities

and achievements. This will give

you an instant confidence boost

and banish that internal critic

living in your head.

Tip

COMMUNICATING WITH CONFIDENCE

While there are no shortcuts to building confidence, there are ways that

you can project confidence to your team and to your stakeholders.

>>^ Consider giving your new vision a badge—a look or a logo to

symbolize the change you want to happen. By implication, those who

use the new language or adopt the new symbols share the leader’s

vision and have committed to the change.

>>^ Deliver your vision messages in sound bites no more than 30 seconds

long that sum up the benefits of the opportunities you wish to explore.

>> Use confident language to describe your vision. Listen and learn

from political leaders, who characteristically employ optimistic

language that suggests a future state—words such as “innovative,”

“special,” “original,” “latest,” “breakthrough,” “updated,” and

“leading-edge.” Used regularly, this kind of vocabulary spreads

through the organization.

US_148-149_Improving_confidence.indd 148 30/05/16 3:02 pm