By William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson
Nothing is as attractive as confidence. You know people in your life who just exude confidence, and you see how others are drawn to them. Confidence is powerful. It’s empowering. It’s grounding.
What is confidence?
According to Wikipedia, self-confidence is a term used to describe how secure a person is in his or her own decisions and actions. This faith in one’s abilities may be applied generally or to specific situations or tasks. Self-confidence is an important attribute because the lack of it can cause underperformance.
Although someone can be incorrectly self confident, self-confidence usually involves a realistic assessment of one's own abilities. People with high self-confidence typically have little fear of the unknown, make decisions with conviction, are able to stand up for what they believe in and have the courage to risk embarrassment. Confident people aren’t afraid to speak in front of large groups, put their thinking on paper for others to critique or share new ideas. They have a vision and believe that vision can become reality.
How does confidence relate to personal branding?
Confidence is an attribute of all strong brands. After all, strong brands are not wishy-washy. Confidence derives from an understanding and appreciation of who you are. It comes from being comfortable in your own skin. It’s a celebration of your authentic self, acknowledgment of your innate traits and skills and an ease of knowing you have what you need to achieve success – however you define it.
To achieve a higher level of confidence, we must develop greater clarity of our unique gifts and talents. We must acknowledge how powerful we are when we are maximizing these strengths, and we must feel secure in our ability to persevere.
You will find free exercises here to help gain self-awareness.
Confidence busters and bolsters in the world of work.
When it comes to the world of work, we have many opportunities to bolster or break our self-confidence. While some of us are naturally more confident than others, confidence can be built—especially if we avoid the busters. Focusing on the positives and your long-term goals will help you to stay on track when the “turkeys get you down.”
Confidence Busters
- Working for a company whose values are incongruent with yours
- A manager who doesn’t acknowledge the value of the diversity of talents on his/her team
- The wrong skill fit for the job you have
- People who take credit for your accomplishments
- Being overworked and underpaid
- Negative feedback on your work
Confidence Boosters
- Successfully taking a risk that involves your strengths
- Surrounding yourself with others who are validating and nurturing
- Recognition for a job well done
- Asking for what you want and getting it
- Having your bio, resume, or online portfolio professionally written (you get objective perspective on just how marketable you really are)
Ask your trusted advisors what they think. You can find out if others describe you as confident by taking the personal brand assessment.
That what you focus on e-x-p-a-n-d-s. Think confident!
William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson are the authors of Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand and partners in Reach, a global leader in personal branding for career-minded executives and professionals. Reach is the platinum sponsor of “A Brand You World” Telesummit – a virtual professional development conference featuring personal branding experts and bestselling authors. Subscribe to the podcast at www.personalbrandingsummit.com.
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