Being confident in the workplace is probably the biggest single issue that effects peoples career progression. In a recent Facebook research paper called ‘SheMeansBusiness‘. It revealed that 2.7 million women in the UK (one in 10) would love to start their own enterprise but don’t. The research highlighted poor self-belief being a major issue, with 37 per cent claiming to feel unready, 25 per cent lacking confidence and 24 per cent concerned that they were missing the right business skills.
All of these meant one thing; a gap in confidence.
You may not be thinking of starting your own business but perhaps you’d like to more confident in your own role. Well it’s good news! – Confidence can be improved and developed.
Start with these useful tips;
Be an expert! *(bordering on a nerd!)
Yes, its easy to say that, but knowledge really does breed power. The more you know about what you are doing the more confident you’ll feel. Learn every facet of your subject. Seize every chance to further that knowledge and capitalise on the inner confidence it will give you. Be that expert!
Planning!
Heard of the 7p’s? – This was a classic acronym from my days in the Army. I still use it today. It’s a great reminder that if you think things through from the outset, you’ve got a far great chance of success. Remember what you need for the day, what the timings are, how your going to get there, what challenges you might face and how you will overcome them.
Remember the 7p’s; Heres a workplace friendly version!
Don’t let you – stop yourself!
Without trying to sound rude, to be more confident in the workplace you need to tackle the biggest weakness in the room; and that’s you.
You have to be willing to give it your all and be willing to accept setbacks, unexpected challenges and days when you’ll might feel an imposter. Having a can do attitude from the outset will make all the difference!
Be Positive!
You must have heard the famous adage, that you may not be able to control your situation but you can control your attitude. This is so so true. Being positive about what’s happening around you can make all the difference. I’m a firm believer that positive things happen to positive people. If your not naturally positive, try and smile more, as cheesy as that sounds – embrace change, look for that silver lining!
Application!
Now it’s all well and good paying lip service to the above but if you really want to improve your workplace confidence, you’ll need to find ways in your work life to apply the above. No one is expecting you to barge through the doors like some overly confident successful business person on day one. But methodically thinking about how you can implement some of the above in your daily work routine will make a huge impact on how confident you will become.
Don’t believe me – try it!
