Confidence is a key factor in nurturing success in the workplace – it can make or break your colleague’s perception of you. Not only that, but many workplace skills derive from confidence.
According to a survey ran by indeed.com, an extraordinary 98% of workers say they perform better at work when they feel confident. Nearly all workers recognise the value of confidence and what it can bring to your success.
Without confidence, it’s difficult to become a trusted colleague or be relied upon as a teammate. But confidence doesn’t just come from anywhere – it has to be nurtured and grown from within yourself.
So, where do you begin?
Let’s start by trying to understand what confidence is.
Simply put, confidence is the driving factor of self-belief. Having confidence means feeling assured in your value as an individual and knowing that you’re good at what you do. This doesn’t have to be entirely internal – external factors of confidence do exist. When colleagues or superiors have confidence in your ability, it can help perpetuate a positive working attitude.
External confidence, however, often comes as a consequence of nurturing confidence in yourself. By being confident, you can excel in three key areas: assertiveness, productivity, and communication.
By believing in your ability and speaking with conviction, colleagues take your word more seriously. Being assertive will result in greater success in the workplace as people will be more likely to listen to your opinion.
If you exude confidence, it is much more likely that you’ll push and challenge yourself to excel. Your productivity rates will increase as your confidence does. You’ll begin to feel more assured that what you’re doing is right – that you can take on and face challenges you previously may have been intimidated by. Consequently, colleagues will respect and have faith in your ability – they may feel reassured that you’re the right person to manage a project or lead a team.
Communication in the workplace is probably one of your most important assets. Being able to speak clearly and concisely to your colleague and supervisors can really shape your position in the workplace. Speaking effectively and with confidence helps you become a more active member of your workplace. This can help in the long-run with career advancement.
So, how do you improve your confidence in the first place?
Three key changes you make today can completely revitalise your attitude and start you on a path of growing confidence.
Confidence breeds Confidence
The first change might seem counterintuitive, but it really does work. Acting like you’re confident will eventually make you feel confident. Let’s say you start slowly – pitching that idea you’ve been too afraid to pitch. If you suggest it with confidence behind your voice, you’re simultaneously being communicative and assertive – even if you don’t really feel it! Once that first barrier is broken, it becomes so much easier to grow that feeling into something more sustainable.
So, the first step here is a small one – but one that can revolutionise your position at work. When you act confident, you portray a certain image of yourself to your colleagues. That image is one of reassurance. Your colleagues are much more likely to come back to you with trust and faith in your position if you exude some confidence. Whether the confidence is fake or not, your colleagues won’t know and eventually that false confidence will breed real confidence. Before you know it, that assertiveness and effective communication will just be a natural skill.
Assessing your impact
This is true for all walks of life: those who lack confidence are often concerned with how others perceive them and the impact this will have on their mindset. Instead, try considering the reverse. Starting with small instances, think about how your actions and decisions at work affect your colleagues.
By reversing your mindset in this way, you start to think more critically about how to be an efficient colleague. Your actions feel more impactful when you consider how it affects others instead of how others affect you. This puts you in the driver’s seat.
When you start to appreciate the impact of your voice, it’s easy to see why having a confident attitude is so important.
Self-recognition
As we said earlier, gaining internal confidence comes from a place of self-belief. The only way to do this is to recognise the value you bring to your team. It’s really helpful to take some time to think about your position in the workplace. You have the skills to be a successful employee – that’s why you were hired in the first place! All that’s missing is the confidence to drive those skills.
Putting them into practice and showing your value to your colleagues is a good way of reassuring your confidence in your own ability. If you’re struggling to do that right now, then think about those little moments of confidence: speaking your mind; pitching an idea; or even just talking to your fellow colleagues.
Our Final Word
The benefits of confidence in the workplace are clear – it’s a seemingly small quality that can seriously advance your career aspirations.
Confidence is not an easy thing to come by. Hopefully these tips are a good starting point for nurturing and developing a sense of confidence in yourself and your abilities. Maybe take a look at some of our other informative guides for more tips on productivity, motivation and mindfulness.
We at Ceed started our business to help nurture and encourage your personal development.
If you need a helping hand in growing you or your employee’s confidence, take a look at our services for more information.