Confidence + Courage + Culture
Given the current political and media climate, every day we are reminded and challenged to show up with confidence, to appear credible, and to advocate for ourselves.
Whether staring down the challenges of a start-up, taking the leap to chase your side-hustle, or embracing being your own boss and team leader, confidence is key. Confidence allows us to jump in with both feet, be powerful leaders, and ask for what we need to succeed.
With confidence, we are moved to action. The recently published book Be Fearless: Five Principles for a Life of Breakthroughs and Purpose, by Jean Case, encourages its readers to make the big bets, experiment early and often, make failure matter, seek out game-changing partnerships, and let urgency conquer fear.
You may know what your product or service is, who your ideal customer is, and what motivates you or how you want to serve. Yet, you can’t take that next step. Getting comfortable with risk and making the big bets – on yourself, financially, emotionally - necessitates believing in your ability to succeed and to move on from mistakes. Often, we are hindered by our fears – fear of failure, not being good enough, being found out (also known as the imposter syndrome – experienced by many women), or – the biggie – fear of rejection.
Our mistakes can fuel our fears. If you experiment early and often, you will make mistakes; if you are pushing beyond your comfort zone, you will make mistakes; if you are betting the house, you are bound to make a few mistakes. The key is learning from mistakes. Don’t brush them aside but don’t let them fester - absorb them, test your assumptions or your hypothesis about the outcome, was the issue in the planning, the execution, or people management. Acknowledge and, then, move on.
Too often we stay rooted in our mistakes and they become the limiting stories we tell ourselves and the beliefs we hold about ourselves, often subconsciously. Mistakes are opportunities for growth, not a measure of our abilities.
Confidence in our self and our voice, liberates confidence in others. Confidence comes with a belief in your ability to perform and is achieved by embracing what makes you UNIQUE. Own your accomplishments, past successes, and positive track-record. Talk about them and, no, that is not the same as bragging. Are you an awesome salesperson, a marketing guru, a financial wizard, a people-person; have you built and managed a team, doubled or tripled revenues, implemented cost reduction measures, led a special project? Often women hesitate to “brag” when, in fact, what they are doing is letting someone else fill in the blanks.
Embrace opportunities to showcase your skill-set and share your experience. Today, more than ever, people are seeking community and connection by sharing experiences and stories. This is how we build relationships.
If you are starting your business or growing a team, confidence and clarity around what you do well and owning your experience, will guide decision-making, let you set expectations and encourage ownership and accountability for greater results.
One of the leading reasons start-ups fail is poor hiring/firing decisions. Certainly, the impact of these decisions is more profound the more senior the role but with a growing business, each hire impacts your corporate culture and output. Being really clear on what your business is, the corporate culture you want, and the end-user of your product or service, helps you hire the right people. There is an often-cited truism in business, As hire As (or better yet A+). Knowing your strengths (and your experience gaps – yes intentionally that is not your “weaknesses”) frees you up to hire those people that fill the gaps and elevate your performance which, in turn, leads to business growth. Hire people who can solve the problems of the future, challenge stalled thinking, and bring positive, collaborative competitive energy.
Advocating for yourself. As entrepreneurs, executives, and human beings, we are all resource constrained. We need leadership support, investment capital, more time, greater networks, high-quality service providers, and strategic alliances. Getting what we need to build our businesses and personal brands, starts with asking for it.
Once you have identified the potential investor, the mentor/advisor, the business partner, third-party vendor, the partnership opportunity, you need to be able to sell yourself and your product or service. Selling yourself starts with confidence in who you are and what you offer the world.
For example, when pitching an investor, yes, do your homework, tailor the discussion, prepare materials, practice pitches and communicate critical information. But at the end of the day, many venture capitalists, particularly early-stage, are investing in the team. You, are as important as “why your product or your service”? You are the secret sauce. As noted above, confidence in yourself will inspire investors to have confidence in your ability to execute.
How do you show up for you? Be clear on who and what you serve. Be authentic and driven by a sense of purpose (stay tuned for my post on purpose and passion!). Be brave – courage is the antidote to fear. Remember, mixing confidence and conviction is a winning combo.
