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First we explore the roots of truly confident people and how they became that way. Then we explain all the detractors that can diminish confidence and how to avoid or correct them. Next we outline all the ways a professional team will suffer under the leadership of an insecure manager. This continues into deeper research on why employees look to a confident manager and how their professional attachments are formed. We continue to detail the traits and tenets paramount to being a confident manager. From there we explore the connection between building trust and confidence where you will have the opportunity to test your own self-confidence with a short confidence check up: thereby self-identifying your own confidence level, areas you may want to improve, and you will be awarded with a tool to help in your journey.
By the end of this consolidated research document, you should not only be able to self-identify your confidence level and lacking areas, but ways your team may be evaluating you based on the confident or unconfident mannerisms and management style you have been projecting to them. Armed with the knowledge of how to build, sustain and utilize self-confidence as a manager, you will be able to move forward to undertake greater responsibilities – more confident than ever in your leadership abilities and how your confidence contributes to your career projection.
To compete in the workplace as a manager today you must have two qualities above all else: confidence and drive. Managerial confidence is often based on the ability to make decisions or offer solutions when it should be based on drawing solutions out of others.1 But the fact is, many managers are not as confident as they want to be or should be. To gain the respect of employees, managers must be able to think independently, collaborate constructively, solve problems and propose realistic solutions. These tenets, above all others, formulate a confident and therefore successful manager in any field.
As a worker moves up through management positions, more complex and higher-value tasks are put upon them. This can often cause anxiety or distress when the new manager does not feel fully prepared for this role. Or, if a worker has been in the role for a long time they may be fearful of failure. To be successful in management, it is important to reframe how we add value from that of an individual player to that of a coach, catalyst, facilitator, broker and thought leader.
As a manager you are now the face of a team. A key metric to management is driven by confidence levels. You rise and fall by how well your team performs based upon your leadership—and to lead well, you must have confidence in yourself. The best teams perform better if they have confidence in their manager. This confidence is stronger when it is earned amicably. But beware—lack of confidence or over confidence can lead to costly errors. In order to muster up that stellar confidence we must first explore where it might stem from.
The truth is, your professional life will often mirror your personal life. So the question becomes, “How does personal confidence play into professional achievement?” Confidence has to do with your inner perception of your ability to fulfill a particular job or role in society. Therefore, self-confidence is influenced by the world around us and how we see ourselves fitting into the roles others place upon us. This includes our roles within family, community, religion and at work. And let’s not forget the roles society places upon us in the media. Your self-confidence may be based upon the universal perception that if you’re “too short” you can’t be taken seriously at work or if you’re “too quiet” you don’t have any valuable opinions to share when given the opportunity.
But remember, “Self-confidence doesn’t exist in a vacuum,” says psychologist and founder of Compass Point Consulting, Suzanne Roff, Ph.D. She believes confidence is largely built through our relationship with the world. Your confidence as a manager really starts with your confidence as a person living with the demands of society, your family and your self-perception of how you currently fill your roles in all of these pieces of your life.2
Having the internal sense that one’s actions impact the outside world is a large part of confidence – and in this regard, it’s a two-way street. In many aspects, how the world around you perceives you is just as important as how you see yourself. And how you perceive yourself directly affects how well you can lead your team. When you as the manager are lacking confidence, big problems can arise.
Successful operations need confidence in several areas:3
There are risks for managerswho does not garner the confidence of their team. Without these key drivers, teams start to unravel. This is why confidence in a manager is so critical. Employees need leadership they can stand behind.
TRUST — Build TRUST through sharing information, frequent communication, etc.
OBJECTIVE — Get buy-in for one overriding and inspiring business OBJECTIVE
PLAN — Create a PLAN with input from the organization
PEOPLE — Ensure that the right PEOPLE are in the right roles
SUCCESS — Achieve early SUCCESS that inspires further performance
Interestingly, professionalism (86%), high-energy (78%) and confidence (61%) are the top three traits employers say they are looking for in new hires.4 Over the past few years the workplace has become one of pure survival. When the economic climate is constantly negative and lay offs are rampant, employees want company leaders to offer confidence, communication and a sense that the future ahead is bright. Workers at every level need to feel that their professional fate and livelihood are in good hands.
As confident managers, we want to constantly offer solutions. Two things signal to employees they are under confident leadership:
However, this is often counter-intuitive to how many managers function, requiring a notable switch from being a ‘solution creator’ to a ‘question asker’. This is tough because managers are inherent decision-makers. By becoming better listeners than talkers, confident managers have a better perspective on the situation and offer or choose more well-rounded solutions when the time comes.
And remember, as one win follows another, the success is contagious and confidence grows. Set yourself up for success by leaning on the right resources.
Managers who lead with confidence find themselves farther along than managers who are less confident. As individuals, having well-founded confidence brings limitless benefits.
Confidence for managers is determined by their level of perceived capability to achieve and sustain high performance for both the business and the teams they lead. A manager’s knowledge, skills and success record are the key criteria people use to determine their level of confidence in this person, regardless of their personal comfort or perceived character of the leader/manager. In other words, our confidence in a manager is based on how well they perform in the eyes of their team. If your team trusts you and follows you willingly, feeling like they are getting strong direction and frequent help, then you’ll confidently continue forward. Research shows that if your team does not follow you, then your confidence dwindles and problems arise among the ranks.
By contrast, trust is determined by whether a manager consistently demonstrates actions that contribute to your own and others’ well-being.6 Developing trust involves ethically-based, values-grounded behavior which is selfless. What we perceive as the nature of a manager’s personality roots our belief in them at a human level. And when you trust and respect someone you’re more likely to follow them. Therefore, personal capabilities determine our level of confidence. To optimize performance, managers need to be both capable and trustworthy. When this combination occurs, organizations survive the hard times and excel in the good.
The significance of leadership trust cannot be under-emphasized since we live in an era in which organizations and leaders are frequently distrusted. “A recent survey reported in clomedia.com listed ‘building trust among employees and customers’ as the attribute current executives most need to develop (by 76% of all respondents); and being trustworthy as a quality that leaders of their organization need to demonstrate right now to move their organization forward in today’s difficult business environment (by 60% of all respondents).”6
When managers are truly trusted, stakeholder groups (employees, customers, investors, suppliers and others) become inspired and they reward the organization with long-term commitment and heightened performance. Building strong cultures from both top-down and bottom-up are excellent ways to increase trust in shorter periods of time than is likely to occur otherwise.6 In fact, successful managers must demonstrate certain skills to get their management positions including experience, tenure, knowledge, trust/respect, ideas and be action-oriented. By honing these traits, managers may be more trusted and influential with their own team and throughout their organization.
For managers, maintaining a presence of confidence gives employees security.
Take a look at these traits at a deeper level.
Every day, situations arise that chip away at your confidence - from sloppy performances by employees you recently coached or a deflating review from your supervisor. The best way to maintain your confidence when life gets in the way is summed up in three key points:
Perform this Quick Confidence Check (download and print).
Review below the reasons a manager’s confidence waivers to find out where you can improve and get back to your confident self.
Signs a manager isn’t confident:8
Knowing the ways your self-confidence gets dismantled enables you take proactive steps to maintain, not only your confidence, but your ability to lead decisively.
2 “Where Does Confidence Come From?” by Alice G Walton (10 Jun 2011)
3 “Building Confidence—The Number 1 Challenge for New Leaders” by Dr. Robert Karlsberg and Dr. Jane Adler
4 “Top Five Personality Traits Employers Hire Most” by Meghan Casserly (4 Oct 2012)
5 “The Value of Confidence” by Elizabeth Cooney (8 Nov 2009)
6 “Do You Have Both Trust and Confidence In Your Leader/Manager?” by Dr. Michael O’Connor (4 Nov 2009)
7 “7 Traits of Highly Confident People” by Jonathan Wells
8 “Empowering Managers to Confident and Effective Leadership” by Veronice Broomes (28 June 2010)
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Executive Summary
What you will discover in this white paper are the key drivers to personal assurance that grow and sustain an individual’s professional confidence as a manager. Confident managers are more highly respected and often excel further in their field than less confident managers. By educating yourself on ways to boost self-confidence and how a confident management style can lead to a more profitable and efficient team, you will walk away with a baseline of tools necessary to advance through the leadership ranks and/or make your general day-to-day life as a manager more fulfilling.First we explore the roots of truly confident people and how they became that way. Then we explain all the detractors that can diminish confidence and how to avoid or correct them. Next we outline all the ways a professional team will suffer under the leadership of an insecure manager. This continues into deeper research on why employees look to a confident manager and how their professional attachments are formed. We continue to detail the traits and tenets paramount to being a confident manager. From there we explore the connection between building trust and confidence where you will have the opportunity to test your own self-confidence with a short confidence check up: thereby self-identifying your own confidence level, areas you may want to improve, and you will be awarded with a tool to help in your journey.
By the end of this consolidated research document, you should not only be able to self-identify your confidence level and lacking areas, but ways your team may be evaluating you based on the confident or unconfident mannerisms and management style you have been projecting to them. Armed with the knowledge of how to build, sustain and utilize self-confidence as a manager, you will be able to move forward to undertake greater responsibilities – more confident than ever in your leadership abilities and how your confidence contributes to your career projection.
Introduction
| “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems
is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.” |
| – Colin Powell |
As a worker moves up through management positions, more complex and higher-value tasks are put upon them. This can often cause anxiety or distress when the new manager does not feel fully prepared for this role. Or, if a worker has been in the role for a long time they may be fearful of failure. To be successful in management, it is important to reframe how we add value from that of an individual player to that of a coach, catalyst, facilitator, broker and thought leader.
As a manager you are now the face of a team. A key metric to management is driven by confidence levels. You rise and fall by how well your team performs based upon your leadership—and to lead well, you must have confidence in yourself. The best teams perform better if they have confidence in their manager. This confidence is stronger when it is earned amicably. But beware—lack of confidence or over confidence can lead to costly errors. In order to muster up that stellar confidence we must first explore where it might stem from.
The Roots of Your Confidence
| “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.
Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” |
| – Helen Keller |
But remember, “Self-confidence doesn’t exist in a vacuum,” says psychologist and founder of Compass Point Consulting, Suzanne Roff, Ph.D. She believes confidence is largely built through our relationship with the world. Your confidence as a manager really starts with your confidence as a person living with the demands of society, your family and your self-perception of how you currently fill your roles in all of these pieces of your life.2
Having the internal sense that one’s actions impact the outside world is a large part of confidence – and in this regard, it’s a two-way street. In many aspects, how the world around you perceives you is just as important as how you see yourself. And how you perceive yourself directly affects how well you can lead your team. When you as the manager are lacking confidence, big problems can arise.
When There Isn’t Confidence In a Manager
So what happens to a team when they lose confidence in their manager or never had it to begin with? Perhaps there have been multiple situations where the team was instructed to go one way and it went badly or they felt uncertain of their direction because their manager was unclear. Losing confidence in a manager is as detrimental to a team as mass layoffs or the loss of a key team member. When confidence in a manager is lost, several things can occur including loss of key employees, decline in morale and productivity, damage to the company’s reputation and reduced investor confidence. All of these outcomes not only interfere with the team’s performance and output, but can dramatically reduce an organization’s ability to rebound.Successful operations need confidence in several areas:3
 | People need to have confidence in their manager |
| Managers needs to have confidence in their people |
| Everyone needs to have self-confidence and confidence in the team’s ability to succeed |
Ways to Build Confidence — Remain on TOPPS
TRUST — Build TRUST through sharing information, frequent communication, etc.
OBJECTIVE — Get buy-in for one overriding and inspiring business OBJECTIVE
PLAN — Create a PLAN with input from the organization
PEOPLE — Ensure that the right PEOPLE are in the right roles
SUCCESS — Achieve early SUCCESS that inspires further performance
Workers Want a Leader They Can Believe In
| “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.
If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” |
| – Dale Carnegie |
As confident managers, we want to constantly offer solutions. Two things signal to employees they are under confident leadership:
- They look for a manager who proposes solutions under pressure. If the manager gives in to pressure, the team quickly follows suit.
- They look to a manager who senses unrest and re-establishes a feeling of community. When the mood is lighter everyone breathes easier, works more productively and refocuses on the goals of the business.
However, this is often counter-intuitive to how many managers function, requiring a notable switch from being a ‘solution creator’ to a ‘question asker’. This is tough because managers are inherent decision-makers. By becoming better listeners than talkers, confident managers have a better perspective on the situation and offer or choose more well-rounded solutions when the time comes.
And remember, as one win follows another, the success is contagious and confidence grows. Set yourself up for success by leaning on the right resources.
Confident Individuals Lead the Way
| “A successful person is one who can lay a firm
foundation with the bricks that others throw at him or her.” |
| – David Brinkley |
Confident Individuals …
| …learn from setbacks and disappointments and turn those experiences into learning opportunities for growth. | |
| …are able to identify what was learned from each negative situation to ensure they do not repeat the actions that caused them. | |
| …develop strong thinking skills. This enables them to be quick on their feet. They will respond with ease to their team, upper-management and customers who voice concerns. | |
| …express ideas fluently and in a way that holds the attention of those listening. | |
| …stay current and keep informed of trends affecting their workload. Being able to link knowledge with planning and action gives them the confidence needed to be the manager they envision. | |
| …acknowledge their own abilities and experience and don’t undervalue them. | |
| …are more positive. Confidence focuses thoughts on positive situations and pleasant experiences in life which goes a long way to projecting stability. |
Building Trust Feeds Confidence
| “Confidence...thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations,
on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.” |
| – Franklin D. Roosevelt |
By contrast, trust is determined by whether a manager consistently demonstrates actions that contribute to your own and others’ well-being.6 Developing trust involves ethically-based, values-grounded behavior which is selfless. What we perceive as the nature of a manager’s personality roots our belief in them at a human level. And when you trust and respect someone you’re more likely to follow them. Therefore, personal capabilities determine our level of confidence. To optimize performance, managers need to be both capable and trustworthy. When this combination occurs, organizations survive the hard times and excel in the good.
The significance of leadership trust cannot be under-emphasized since we live in an era in which organizations and leaders are frequently distrusted. “A recent survey reported in clomedia.com listed ‘building trust among employees and customers’ as the attribute current executives most need to develop (by 76% of all respondents); and being trustworthy as a quality that leaders of their organization need to demonstrate right now to move their organization forward in today’s difficult business environment (by 60% of all respondents).”6
When managers are truly trusted, stakeholder groups (employees, customers, investors, suppliers and others) become inspired and they reward the organization with long-term commitment and heightened performance. Building strong cultures from both top-down and bottom-up are excellent ways to increase trust in shorter periods of time than is likely to occur otherwise.6 In fact, successful managers must demonstrate certain skills to get their management positions including experience, tenure, knowledge, trust/respect, ideas and be action-oriented. By honing these traits, managers may be more trusted and influential with their own team and throughout their organization.
Traits of Confident Managers
| “Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.” |
| – Vince Lombardi |
Primary Traits of Confident Managers Include:7
| Upbeat body language |
| Direct and positive language |
| Accepting compliments |
| Avoiding self-promotion in a boastful manner |
| Staying positive |
| Using positive actions |
| Seeing the opportunities in every situation |
Presentation
Some tools to project confidence include, making direct eye contact, good posture, positive facial expressions and a professional appearance. All of these tell others you are someone who is composed, secure and trustworthy. Body language is a powerful way to communicate confidence. In fact your body language is often the best indicator and reflection of your own self-confidence in your management ability beyond anything you could say. Actions speak louder than words.Verbal
Words, of course, still matter. The next trait confident managers must use is direct and positive language. Their words should reinforce their confident image. When you meet someone new, whether in person or over the phone, always give your name. Leading with a personal introduction underscores the feeling that you respect yourself, and that others should pay attention to what you have to say.7Praise
Insecure people shy away from compliments from others, therefore accept praise graciously. Be appreciative and always give due credit to your team. Giving praise breeds confidence and the ability to receive accolades is a sign of solid self-esteem. Show genuine appreciation for a gift or compliment. This signals to the world that you agree your accomplishments should be valued and so should you.Boast
Avoid self-promotion. The truth is if you are truly secure, bragging won’t be needed to garner external approval. True confidence stems from being internally secure. People who boast are calling attention to themselves because they don’t feel worthy of respect. Instead, share your accomplishments in conjunction with ways others helped you along the way.Positive
Maintain a positive tone in conversation and avoid unloading your problems and stresses onto others. Staying positive and speaking only of constructive ways to fix problems moves your team away from negative thinking and keeps the mood light. When you are tempted to criticize or complain, find a way to turn your thoughts in a positive direction before you speak.7Positive Walk
Counter doubt and fear with positive action and self-talk. You would not be human if you did not doubt yourself from time to time, but dwelling on difficulties only makes them seem bigger and harder than they really are. And this is an example your team will follow. The best antidote for doubt is to increase your level of productive activity. Don’t sit around over-analyzing the situation, get up and act. By working on constructive activities your mind will be consumed with solutions instead of problems. Your team will take notice and model the behavior.Freedom
Finally, confident managers see everything as an opportunity. In life you can adjust your attitude to any circumstance. That is not to say everyone can produce their intended result every time, but it is an indicator that it may be time to adjust course. It is not a reflection of your value as a person, so don’t take it personally or let it rattle your self-esteem.7 And remember, confidence is contagious so half the battle is realizing you are a confident manager and letting that attitude shine through.Fight for Your Confidence
| “With realization of one’s own potential and
self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.” |
| – The Dalai Lama |
- Re-evaluate
- Restore yourself
- Take action
Perform this Quick Confidence Check (download and print).
Review below the reasons a manager’s confidence waivers to find out where you can improve and get back to your confident self.
Signs a manager isn’t confident:8
Managers…
| …want to be on friendly terms with everyone on their team, so they delay or avoid painful decisions | |
| …place themselves under extreme pressure—afraid to ask for help | |
| …are reluctant to delegate tasks/projects to other team members, as this can be seen as a sign of weakness or incompetence | |
| …do not think they have the required knowledge and skills to develop a strong team and to get early buy-in from others on the team. (Research suggests that this can reflect gender differences when applying for roles, with women being more focused on skills they do not have, rather than those they have already. The reverse is true for male managers or directors.) | |
| …become consumed with fire-fighting and are too focused on immediate decision-making, unable to plan and develop a longer-term vision for the team | |
| …feel incapable of motivating staff to achieve higher goals/targets | |
| …are unwilling to deal with challenging behavior such as missed deadlines or team conflict |
| “It’s better to be boldly decisive and risk being
wrong than to agonize at length and be right too late.” |
| – Marilyn Moats Kennedy |
References
1 “The Confident Manager” by Mitch McCrimmon (24 Jan 2007)2 “Where Does Confidence Come From?” by Alice G Walton (10 Jun 2011)
3 “Building Confidence—The Number 1 Challenge for New Leaders” by Dr. Robert Karlsberg and Dr. Jane Adler
4 “Top Five Personality Traits Employers Hire Most” by Meghan Casserly (4 Oct 2012)
5 “The Value of Confidence” by Elizabeth Cooney (8 Nov 2009)
6 “Do You Have Both Trust and Confidence In Your Leader/Manager?” by Dr. Michael O’Connor (4 Nov 2009)
7 “7 Traits of Highly Confident People” by Jonathan Wells
8 “Empowering Managers to Confident and Effective Leadership” by Veronice Broomes (28 June 2010)
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