Leadership - Confidence - development part 2
Confidence - development part 2
Positive images
It is easy with these exercises to focus on the negative aspects and spend a lot of time trying to correct these.
It is just as important, to draw on many positive images.
These are where things went very well and your confidence was at a peak.
When you are low it is a good idea to be able to draw on these positive images to give support to the fact that you have great abilities and skills.
You can do things right.
Knowing that you have many examples to support your cause will give you tremendous support.
Re-enactment
Try to visualise a similar experience and play through all of the actions.
Focus on how you feel and what triggers the response.
Imagine scenarios where you explore different behaviours and outcomes.
Try to apply your preferred option the next time you are in a similar situation.
New structure
When you have been in a particular role for some time you will be familiar with all of its aspects.
You have known goals and objectives with well defined accountabilities.
Sometimes when you move high enough in an organisation these may be less defined as the view is that you have the experience to get on with it. You may move to another organisation whose values are not quite what you have been used to.
It may be your job to set those values, vision and goals beginning from a blank canvass.
In this position you will need to develop and eventually set the vision which drives the underlying activities.
From this vision you will establish a number of goals.
Naturally, you will need to put management controls in place to monitor the situation.
Get support
You might find it hard to develop your confidence on your own.
Why not confide in someone with your plans.
Tell them about the situation that you find awkward and what you are trying to do about it.
This will have several benefits.
- If the person is your boss he or she may not have been aware of your concern and should be willing to give you full support.
- The person may have specific experience in this area which may benefit you.
- They will be able to motivate you by monitoring your progress and keeping you on track.
For example, if you have a problem with presentations it may be useful to talk to someone that you admire in this area.
They may be able to bolster your confidence straight away by stating that you are a lot better than you think. They may take more notice of future technique and give you valuable feedback and tips.
It is a very good trait to want to improve.
Hiding a problem usually only makes it worse.
Translating to others
As a leader one of the biggest steps you can take is to improve confidence in all your teams.
If this happens other areas improve.
For example.
- People receive delegation better.
- Their communication improves.
- Performance is raised.
- Stress is reduced leading to higher job satisfaction.
From your own perspective analyse your behaviours to find out the positive and negative aspects in terms of instilling confidence in others. Reinforce the good points and modify the poor areas.
Make sure that you set clear goals, objectives.
Use S.M.A.R.T. targets.
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time (related)
Maintain a ‘no blame’ culture, monitor progress and coach your teams.
Poor confidence can quickly lead to stress so try to do something about it.