This past summer, I interviewed a slew of operations executives to learn about their most common problems and their best practices for them.
Challenges followed clear patterns regardless of:
- company size or industry
- age
- gender
- location, or
- number of years in their role
And I was surprised by the most pervasive challenge. One highly successful COO for ten years with over 1600 people reporting to him summed it up like this: ‘I’ve constantly got a low-key tape playing in my head saying things like:
I’m not doing enough.
I’m not going fast enough.
Did I do that wrong?’
What? To look at this guy’s CV you would not at all expect him to struggle with confidence.
Does this sound familiar to you too?
In this episode, I’ll share the quick mindset shift and 3 tips that cultivate confidence.
Check Your Expectations
Operations executives need confidence so they can, among other things:
- make faster decisions
- give more direct feedback
- enforce accountability
- boldly advocate for themselves and their team, and
- feel good at the end of the day
I am reminded of a story that author, Neil Gaiman, shared about meeting Neil Armstrong. Apparently, even the first person to walk on the moon felt intimidated in a room full of other high achievers.
Interestingly, that drive to compare yourself to others with a critical eye is actually a survival mechanism and part of what got you where you are now as an executive.
The real problem comes not just from that confidence gap, but also from layering judgment on top of it. Like there’s something wrong, bad, or otherwise ‘off’ if you feel a dip in confidence.
No, there isn’t something wrong, bad, or otherwise off about anyone feeling a dip in confidence. Give yourself a break!
Take a Different Approach
And, take a different approach by giving yourself permission to feel a dip in your confidence. Then, consider what situations you want to feel more confident about. Those are clues to where you can take strategic action or do something differently.
Have you been assuming that confidence is a requirement rather than an outcome?
It would be awesome to simply go to the store and pick up a quart of confidence when you’re running low. But confidence isn’t a commodity. It is a feeling inside that grows from experience with:
- Accomplishing something, and/or
- Being present to what you’ve done, regardless of the result
The stories you tell yourself set the tone for everything you do. By applying your analytical skills to your stories — and adding in a micro-dose of courage — you’ve got a runway to a new result.
Grow Reserves of Confidence
One way of hacking a confidence dip is to recall a time when the going got tough and you made things happen. What did that feel like for you? How did you actually experience it physically, emotionally, and mentally?
You can grow reserves of confidence by paying more attention to all that you have done well as well as all that you do well enough plus the unique skill you bring.
It also helps to look closely at the places you typically don’t feel confident:
Why is this scary thing you need to do so important to you? Why is it important to your stakeholders? To the organization overall? How about your own development and sense of fulfillment?
Use this broader lens to summon the courage to take the first step now without a prerequired sense of confidence. You’ve done hard things before, right? You’ll do this too.
So, what have you been intending to do, but lack of confidence has kept you from doing it? Do it now anyway.
You can’t stop the chaos, but you can change the game.