Executive Coaching builds confidence

Suzanna Prout - 10th February 2014

We believe that participation in executive leadership coaching builds confidence and so if your new year’s resolution is to assert yourself at work with confidence, then take a look at these top tips from Rosabeth Kanter. BUT remember the best resolutions will go nowhere without the confidence to stick with them!

Confidence is an expectation of a positive outcome. It is not a personality trait; it is an assessment of a situation that sparks motivation. To muster the confidence to work toward your goals, avoid these eight traps:

1. Self-defeating assumptions. You think you can’t, so you don’t.   A company team decides that a popular world leader is so far out of their league that they don’t issue an invitation to speak at their customer event. It’s one thing to be realistic, it’s another to behave like a loser before entering the game.

2. Goals that are too big or too distant. Leaders often want to tackle BHAGs — “big hairy audacious goals.” but the gap between a giant goal and today’s reality can be demotivating. Confidence comes from small wins that occur repeatedly, with each small step moving you closer to the big goal. Winners think small as well as big.

3. Declaring victory too soon. The dieter’s dilemma: lose the first few pounds, and feel so good that you reward yourself with chocolate cake, and when the pounds go back on, you feel so discouraged that you have more cake to feel better. Step-by-step discipline builds confidence so keep focused.

4. Do-it-yourself-ing.  It’s a trap to think you can go it alone, without a support system and without supporting others. To build your confidence, create a culture in which everyone is more likely to succeed, whether through coaching, mentoring or recognising their strengths.

5. Blaming someone else. Whining about past harms reduces confidence about future possibilities. When the blame game is carried out within companies, everyone loses confidence, including external stakeholders. Confidence is the art of moving on.

6. Over-confidence. Confidence is a sweet spot between despair and arrogance. Don’t let confidence slip over into the arrogant end. A little humility goes a long way to moderate arrogance and keep just the right amount of confidence.

Remember, it’s not enough just to feel confident. You have to do the work. But with an expectation of success, you can try new things, form new partnerships, contribute to shared success, and revel in small wins that move you toward bigger goals.