IMPROVING CONFIDENCE / 149Acknowledging ideas
Your inner confidence will grow when you
behave in a confident manner and gain
the trust of your team and colleagues.
An ability and a willingness to devolve
power and decision-making is one vital
characteristic that marks out a confident
leader, so take every opportunity to
involve others and empower them
to act on their ideas. Be open about what
is not working for you, your customers,
suppliers, or employees; your frankness
will be interpreted as an expression
of confidence because you approach
success and adversity with equal zeal.
Encourage people to discover and
understand situations for themselves
rather than spoon-feeding them issues
and answers—remember your power
increases as you give it away.Being consistent
As a leader, your every word and action
is scrutinized by your team and could
be given far more significance than
you intended. Perceptions of you as a
confident leader can be undermined
by conscious or unconscious slips, so
try and think in a measured way about
the kind of signals you are sending out.
Consistency and calmness in adversity
are characteristics that most people
will perceive as confidence.FACE YOUR FEARS
Confidence comes
from self-knowledge;
understanding your thoughts
and actions gives you the
ability to control them.
A good way to become more
self-assured is to face your
fears—do that presentation,
confront your difficult CEO,
and reply to that demanding
client—now!Tip
CHECKLIST...
Staying calm in adversity YES NO1 Do I know what triggers an emotional overreaction in me? ..........2 Can I spot the signs of stress in myself? .........................................3 Am I able to delay my response for a few seconds before
I respond? ..........................................................................................Organizations with strong
leaders achieve double
the profit rate and
growth as those without
strong leadership
US_148-149_Improving_confidence.indd 149 30/05/16 3:02 pm