7 tips on leadership and confidence
Leadership and confidence go hand in hand. Because of this, we listed down seven tips that will help you develop to become the leader in your business.
Now, let’s dive in!
1. Embrace ambiguity of decisions
This is a hard pill to swallow. Naturally, humans don’t like ambiguity. We always want to be sure about our choices.
However, embracing our decisions and accepting that was the best you could come up with in that situation is what you need to face earlier on if you want to develop your confidence and leadership skills. There are no right answers, only “best actions” to move forward.
Often, due to the nature of never being sure if your whether creating a new line of products or having changes to the marketing strategy would be enough, being a leader is not for everyone and that’s alright.
But if you’re willing to work on handling ambiguity and to just make decisions with the thought that’s the best you could come up with, then you have the potential to become a leader.
Having confidence in decision-making will take time, it’s a skill that comes with time and experience.
In addition, the Harvard Business Review even stated that when it comes to CEO leadership, there is no cut-and-dry right or wrong answer because business decisions are complex. Even long-time CEOs are guessing and making the most of their decisions.
2. Be open to new information and criticism
Personal growth is vital for anyone who wants to become a confident leader. No one immediately becomes excellent in whatever line of career they’re pursuing. The same goes for becoming a CEO and business leader.
That is why I think that it never hurts to seek out advice and training from a business coach would help in your development. It’s because they can provide you with objective opinions regarding certain issues and strategies. Most business coaches have many years of experience in running and founding a business before they began to teach and train other entrepreneurs.
To gain confidence in Leadership, you must be willing to listen to criticism and have an open mind. Stagnation in your personal growth is problematic because to be a leader you need to be dynamic. So continue to learn, listen to advice, and accept constructive criticism.
3. Find the courage to try and fail
In Mark Manson’s self-help book entitled, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life, he states that improvement at anything is based on thousands of tiny failures, and the magnitude of your success is based on how many times you’ve failed at something.” The only reason why someone else is better than you are is that they have failed more.
This principle goes back to tip number one, being at peace with ambiguity meaning you will have to accept that some plans won’t go your way. Courage is when you commit to continue work through multiple failures as you learn how to become a leader.
4. Assess your strengths and weaknesses
As a leader, self-awareness is crucial for your development in your confidence. By knowing what your strengths and weaknesses are it’ll help you understand where the areas you will need to develop.
Let’s say, for example, you’re charismatic and know how to communicate and inspire others but your weakness is that you lack organizational skills. Due to this, you have an assistant to facilitate you in getting organized and try various techniques to develop this skill.
I suggest that you take time to ask yourself where you’re lacking in your personal development and what strengths you have. Try different ways to overcome these weaknesses. Sometimes, you will have to develop them directly, like through training and researching. Other times, it will involve you working on your strengths to work through your weaknesses.
5. Setting boundaries
It can be so easy to make your career and personal life mold together. There should be certain boundaries in place.
I suggest you set boundaries for your mental health. Some CEOs can’t separate who they are with their companies and because of this, they become defensive about their actions and do not listen to their peers’ advice and suggestions.
There’s a reason why I suggested you seek out a business coach and that’s because you need an outside perspective to be rational and objective when it comes to decision making. Leave work at work, and leave personal matters at home.
Having boundaries also talks about the people in your life from your family to your employees. It goes both ways. They respect your boundaries and you respect theirs.
This goes back to what we previously talked about how you should separate private life from your work life. Having a work-life balance is essential for anyone who wants to develop confidence in their leadership.
6. Experience builds character
Like I have mentioned, building confidence and leadership skills will take time. The more you experience life and different challenges, the more you learn and develop methods to overcome them.
It will take time and if I have to be honest, it can get frustrating. But you have to remember and go back to your objectives and goals.
Experience equals confidence. The more you’re used to challenges, the more you’re likely to know how to adapt and resolve issues that come your way.
7. Stay committed
Lastly, commitment to self-betterment is a key I think all business leaders and entrepreneurs should try to aspire towards. Nowadays, because of the internet, I think the younger generation is finding it harder to not feel “FOMO” or fear of missing out on a lot of things that life has to offer, including careers.
Social media has just made it easier for people to take a glimpse into another person’s life and compare your progress with another person’s success. Sometimes, it can lead to some of them going through different careers and jobs, not knowing if this is the one for them or they just still need to keep on looking.
There’s a word for those who fear commitment and settling down with career paths. The “grass is greener” syndrome is wherein you feel like there’s always something better out there you’re missing out on it.
I think this comes from the idea that being committed is to be tied down. Discipline and commitment are needed if you want to become stable in your career and to develop confidence and leadership.
People look to leaders for guidance. Confidence is gained through experience. And so, commitment and discipline are key components in developing these traits as leadership requires stability and security. Meanwhile, confidence requires the commitment and discipline to do tasks again and again to develop your skills.
