Do you ask yourself how to improve your confidence at work or what you can do to demonstrate self-confidence? Have you always admired how some people look so confident at work? The good thing is that you can improve your confidence.
There are few questions to ask yourself to get a clearer picture. What is it that makes other people you admire appear confident? What do other people do that you interpret as confidence?
The reason you think some other people demonstrate confidence while you don't is because they have certain qualities about them that makes them appear confident. The key is to identify those qualities and then figure out how you can personalize them to fit you and what you do.
How to improve your Confidence
1. Take Actions and Be Engaged
To be confident, you must do what you are qualified to do. You cannot remain quiet, or be passive in your professional world. You must be seen to stand up for what you know and be ready to defend what you do. The actions you take is what demonstrates confidence.
Do you often take a back seat at work? It's time to change your tactics.
You want to engage with your audience, whether they are your clients or co-workers.
Don't to be standoffish when interacting with fellow professionals. Sometimes, being quiet and shy can be misinterpreted as aloofness or disinterest. You can start by speaking up and out in your capacity as a professional.
2. Stand Up for Yourself and Be Thick-Skinned
In the course of doing your job, people who will question you, some rightly and some condescendingly. You must be ready to stand up for your ideas and to take the heat for your opinions. You cannot cower or flinch at confrontations. Fight (don't just give up) for what you believe is the right course of action.
You will be interrupted by people, so be ready to push through interruptions. In fact, be prepared to be interrupted and know how you will get back into the discussion. Sometimes people would disagree with you, that's okay too.
You won't always be right. Being confident doesn't mean you know it all, and that's fine too. On the contrary, it takes a confident person to acknowledge being wrong.
3. Don't Personalize or Ruminate
It's important to remember not to take things personally. You want to remain professional in your dealings even when things are not going the way you anticipated. It's not a personal failure when things go amiss. Learn from your experiences and continue forward. Don't waste time ruminating over what went wrong.
If you personalize failures, it will affect how you think of yourself and how you conduct yourself professionally. Many successful people have their share of failures and setbacks. It's life, in somethings you fail and fall, it just means you've found one way not that won't work.
4. Embrace Differences and Diversity
Don't be afraid to embrace diversity or differences. As you go about your professional life, you will meet with people that not only think differently from you but also act differently from you. As the saying goes, variety is the spice of life. Diversity provides flavor and hence, you should not be averse to it.
Embracing diversity includes allowing others be themselves. A lot of workplace conflict arises as a result of personality clashes. The introvert being irritated by the extrovert, the big - picture gal getting exasperated by the detail-oriented guy. The list goes on.
Your ability to positively interact with people that think and operate differently from you will make you stand out as a confident professional any day, any time.
5. Focus on the Project
Keep your eyes on the project and don't be distracted by the non-essentials. Non-essentials are things that derail you easily or things that may make you react in a wrong way when it has little or nothing to do with the project.
Focusing on the delivery of a speech instead of the content is an example of focusing on non-essentials. A lot of people have burnt bridges and made enemies because they were offended by how people spoke to them. It may be necessary to address some of these secondary issues but do so in a professional way and not in anger.
It's important to note that focusing on the project will make it easier to get along with anybody and to let go of differences. You will feel and look confident when you are unruffled by day to day work challenges.
6. Don't sell yourself short.
None of the things I mentioned above will be helpful to you if you feel that you aren't good enough for what you do or if you think that you don't deserve the position you occupy now. It won't serve you well either if you don't acknowledge the hard work that you do as a professional.
You have earned the right to do what you do if you have the education, the experience or the skill. Furthermore, if you produce results, you deserve the position you occupy. Quit selling yourself short! Just stop thinking you are not good enough.
You may feel like, there so much for you to know, that's okay. To be honest, who knows it all? No one so you are in the company of your peers. Therefore, don't feel bad that you don't know everything.
The Last Word
At some point, most people battle with confidence. There will be times you feel very confident and at other times not as much. If you are experiencing a low point now, don't be hard on yourself. Identify the areas you can improve on and engage your audience with your newly acquired skills.
For more coaching to boost your confidence, then schedule a free call with me.
Step out in confidence and don't let anything or anyone hold you back.