How to Cultivate Confidence as a Leader
Some of the most confident people you've met aren't naturally confident. They're either faking it or they've trained themselves to be more confident. Or both
By | Timothy Carter | www.entrepreneur.com
Confidence is one of your most important qualities as a leader. If you exhibit confidence, the rest of your team will have more faith in your decisions. They’ll be more likely to respect you and hear what you have to say. Additionally, you’ll be able to carry your confidence into negotiations, team meetings, client meetings and other interactions, ultimately giving you a tactical advantage.
The problem with confidence is that for many people, it doesn’t come naturally. You may not wake up in the morning feeling supremely confident the way some other people do.
Related: 11 Habits of Truly Happy People
But here’s an interesting little secret; some of the most confident people you’ve met weren’t naturally confident. Instead, they were faking it. Or maybe they trained themselves to be more confident. Or both.
If they can do it, you can do it. So let’s dig deeper. How can you cultivate more confidence as a leader?
1. Focus on what you do feel confident about
“Confidence” is a general term, but it applies to many individual actions and activities throughout the day. When delivering a pep talk in front of your team, you may not feel confident. But you may be perfectly confident solving a tough sudoku puzzle in the morning paper. Or you may feel confident about doing something simpler, like giving your drink order at the coffee shop before work.
