Are you a confident leader?

Accepting a leadership role in your organization can be daunting. Transitioning from independent work to making difficult decisions and managing a team of employees can be a drastic change that requires confidence to succeed. It is very apparent to team members when a leader lacks confidence and the ability to help advance both the team and the organization. In our years of working with leaders and organizations, we quickly recognized the differences between a leader who has confidence in their abilities versus a leader who is full of self-doubt and insecurity. While it may be a challenge for some leaders to gain confidence in themselves and others, here are seven tips that can help initiate the journey to becoming a confident leader.

Communicate a Positive Vision

Leaders who lack confidence tend to have a status quo or pessimistic vision of their team’s and organization’s future. Although these leaders may not communicate their negative thoughts, we know that confident leaders tend to communicate a positive vision and focus on the improved outcome. Confident leaders believe they have the skills needed to figure it out, find the resources, build a team, and consistently deliver the needed results. Their positive vision allows them to lead positive conversations.

Over Communicate

Leaders who don’t have faith in themselves tend to be poor communicators. They are so hyper-focused on not slipping up that they will hesitate to make decisions, respond to emails or communicate their vision. When leaders shy away from communicating, making decisions, or withholding information, they hold-up other team members’ work. This leaves employees feeling more confused and less confident in their leader’s abilities. Confident leaders focus on never holding up another team member’s work. They also practice good communication by actively listening, asking good questions, and being decisive.

Take Risks

Leaders who lack confidence are afraid of failing, so they avoid being innovative and taking risks. They think that playing it “by the book” will keep their team or organization consistent and safe so that they won’t be accountable for any mishaps. This sparks issues because while leaders may not make any mistakes, they aren’t leading change and improving the organization. Confident leaders take calculated risks. They confidently forge into the unknown and learn from their mistakes. This goes along with the classic Mark Twain saying, “You’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the things you did do.” If leaders begin to take risks rather than play it safe, the possibilities are endless. Confident leaders believe they can accomplish their goals.

Give Credit where it is Due

Leaders who lack confidence are not comfortable giving credit or expressing gratitude to members of their team. These leaders tend to take credit for the wins and are quick to point out the mistakes of others. To keep the team’s trust and commitment, confident leaders know they must show appreciation for their team’s hard work and contribution to the organization’s success by properly recognizing their achievements. Confident leaders trust their teams and allow them to flourish and grow. Giving credit also means accepting compliments and not discounting them. Instead of discounting the compliment, learn to say, “Thank you for that feedback.”

Be Resilient

Every great leader, at one point or another, has made a bad decision or has tried something that did not work. The difference, however, between a confident leader and a skeptical leader is that the confident leader will turn a negative outcome into a positive outlook for the future. A confident leader will take every loss, mistake or obstacle and look at it as a learning experience that they can improve upon in the future. Confident leaders will not let failure get in their way and stop them because they know that failure is the path to learning and growing and will bring them one step closer to achieving their goals.

Call upon a Mentor or Executive Coach

Leaders who lack confidence believe that since they were hired for the job, they should already have all the skills they need to do the job. They don’t want to admit that they do not know what to do or have all the answers. Confident leaders are comfortable asking for help and advice of people who have gone before them. When meeting with a coach or mentor, confident leaders love to use the line, “I need to run something by you.” Asking for help is a sign of strength, and confident leaders use mentors, coaches, or advisors to help them become even stronger leaders.

Defeat Imposter Syndrome

Every leader, even CEO’s of great organizations, has questioned themselves if they are really the right/best person for their job. These bad thoughts almost always lead to comparing their leadership to someone else… whether it is one of their direct reports or the CEO of a competitor. In challenging moments or situations, leaders who lack confidence believe that there is someone better than them who could do their job. These thoughts erode confidence and lead to negative thoughts and visions. To become an even more confident leader and overcome the Imposter Syndrome, we recommend leaders build a list of ten to fifteen reasons (skills, traits, and competencies) why they were selected for this leadership role.

Your job as a leader is to constantly improve the condition of your team and organization to succeed. Remember, you were put in your position of power and influence for a reason. They hired you for the job; now make them look good and take advantage of the opportunity you were given.