Many leaders want to improve their self-esteem, yet becoming a confident leader is easier said than done. How do you bolster your confidence at a time when many employees, including 75% of female executives, are facing imposter syndrome in their careers? Let’s look at how to effectively build your confidence as a leader.
Why Is Confidence Important In A Leader?
For starters, while confidence is important for any worker, it’s essential if you’re attempting to lead people and teams in the current business landscape. You must not only establish a vision and hold the strategy for your team but also build and maintain their trust along the journey. Displaying strong self-confidence makes it easier for employees and executive peers to trust and follow your leadership and decisions, especially during times of change and turbulence, which seem increasingly common. Thankfully, self-confidence is a skill you can learn and build.
How To Build Confidence As A Leader
Now, how do you fight off imposter syndrome, build your self-confidence and lead with conviction? Here are five ways to boost your confidence as a leader:
1. Focus on your strengths.
A lot of leaders focus their attention and effort on their weaknesses, which can quickly become a time and energy suck. As you climb the career ladder, consider instead focusing on your strengths and merely managing your weaknesses. Research from Gallup proves that leaders who can hone in on their strengths are not only more confident but also more engaged at work and more likely to achieve their goals. Therefore, make a practice of naming your strengths and intentionally leaning into them when you’re lacking self-confidence.
2. Internalize your accomplishments.
You’re bound to be successful at work when you play to your strengths. However, part of building your self-confidence as a leader and combating imposter syndrome is learning how to recognize and internalize your achievements. Consequently, consider developing a daily or weekly practice of reflecting on your achievements.
Additionally, you might wish to use one-on-ones with your boss to share your career wins and further bolster your confidence. If you find it difficult to recognize and celebrate what you’ve accomplished, don’t be afraid to survey those around you, a topic I’ll discuss further in a bit.
3. Embrace a growth mindset.
If you want to be a more confident manager, you also need to adapt and embrace a growth mindset, since it provides you with the desire to continually learn, which is mandatory for a modern-day leader. But what does a growth mindset look like in practice? As psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck explains in Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, people with a growth mindset tend to embrace change and “persist in the face of setbacks, see effort as the path to mastery, learn from criticism and find lessons and inspiration in the success of others.”
4. Invest in the power of mentorship and community.
Speaking of learning from others, mentorship is invaluable in your leadership career. Mentors can provide you with insights and “shortcuts” when facing new obstacles and challenges, as well as serve as a sounding board as you continue to climb the career ladder. Building a community of supportive mentors, or a “personal board of directors,” can also help ward off imposter syndrome. Notably, you’ll want to include external mentors on this board, as you want to develop a confidential and objective sounding board that can provide you with a fresh perspective and be radically honest regarding your performance.
5. Ask for feedback.
Lastly, confident leaders are humble and unafraid to ask for feedback on how they’re doing, even during challenging times and from those they find intimidating. If you’re not regularly getting feedback on your performance and leadership from those around you, start now and you could watch your self-confidence soar. Importantly, your questions need to be specific if you want quality feedback:
• What was your favorite part of yesterday’s presentation?
• Can you tell me what your biggest takeaway was from today’s meeting?
Wrapping Up
Please remember that confidence is a skill you can build and develop. Play to your strengths, learn to celebrate and internalize your accomplishments, adopt a growth mindset, invest in mentorship and be open to feedback along the way. You’ve got this!
Original Article: Forbes Magazine
