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Do you have confidence as a boss? If you don’t, chances are neither do those you lead.

Yah, I know you thought I was going to break out in song, huh? Hmmm… not on an early Monday Morning. Instead, let’s look at what CONFIDENCE does have to do with it… the it being leadership.

Recently, a colleague asked me what we do and part of my response was that as a five division training and consulting firm, we help business leaders and managers lead better so that what rubs off from their behaviors is what they actually want to have stick! This can be done through coaching, training, and learning resources to read or listen to… and ALL of it includes building the confidence of the leader. WHY? Because confidence has everything to do with your effectiveness in leading not only yourself, but others, as well. How so? Well, let’s take a look…

When the leader has confidence…

When a leader has confidence, and is sure that he has the ability to lead the team, better decisions are made, actions and behaviors are less likely to be taken personally, proactive measures are enacted to ensure the team handles what’s coming as well as can be expected, and the leader becomes more available to handle the individual needs of the team member. You see, when a leader has confidence, it means he  is better able to manage the voices in his head and doesn’t deal with worry or get consumed by stress or negativity quite as much as one who lacks confidence. Thus, the time a leader without confidence would spend on worrying, stressing out, wringing his hands over a problem, can then be focused on the growth and development needs of those he has the privilege of leading.

When an employee has confidence…

The average person has 14 negative voices or things they say to themselves, PER every ONE positive voice or thing inside their head. Now, let’s assume you hire well above average people and they have let’s say only 6 to one negative to positive. Well, this still means that one action you take or behavior you exhibit is six times as likely to be taken personally and to impede productivity if this employee does not have a high degree of confidence. Employees who are confident, know they are capable of doing their job and have skills of value. They may not like or agree with all that you have to say, but the confident employees are not very likely to think it is a personal affront that then becomes their primary focus taking them away from the task at hand. In sales, for example, this would also apply to customers who said no to a potential sale. A sales person with a high degree of 6 or even 14 to 1 might take this to heart if they didn’t have a high degree of confidence. One who does have confidence will say thank you, realize it isn’t thier skills, consider themselves one step closer to a yes, and say “next”.

When a team has confidence…

Ever heard the saying rising tides lift all boats? With confident team members you can move mountains and make huge accomplishments. Every team member is sure of their skills and their role and their intended objective and they go forth and conquer in rather quick fashion. Of course, several of those things that can raise the confidence of a team or an employee are things you, as the leader of this team, can improve and ensure exist.

Of course, in order to contagiously lead a team where your confidence rubs off on those you lead, you must also have confidence in you and your own skills. You see, Confidence has EVERYTHING to do with “it”. Sing it with me now… Ha! I don’t think so. 🙂

Want to know more?

If you team or colleagues or employees seem to suffer from a low sense of confidence or self esteem, we can help with that. We can raise self awareness, improve skills in areas important to productivity and dramatically improve the functionality of your team and their communication. Give Contagious Companies a call if you’d like to see if we can help. 1-866-382-0121

Stay Contagious!

Monica