3 THRIVE Edition 2 “Inspiring confidence is about having firstly, a belief in yourself and secondly a belief in the potential of others”. Oh how I wish that I knew then what I know now! With experience and learning comes wisdom. Starting out in my career my focus was on proving myself as a manager and being in control. As I have built confidence over the years I have learned that improving myself is so much more productive and positive and ensures that not only do I grow and learn, but so do others with whom I interact. I remember reading a quote from an interview with an actor who said: “I spent my 20’s and 30’s worrying about what people were saying about me only to realise in my 40’s they weren’t”. We can be our own worst enemies and research tells us that we criticise ourselves more than anybody else does. Consider who has control over you. An internal locus of control is the degree to which we believe that we, as opposed to external forces and/or people, have control over the outcome of events in our lives. (Julian B. Rotter, 1954). Being confident means having a positive internal locus of control – taking responsibility for self and your own actions. The belief that “I did it” not “they did it too me”. As leaders, whatever age or experience level or role we have, encouraging a sense of self-confidence in the people around us results in win-win outcomes. However we can, instead of inspiring confidence, sow insecurity through our own insecurities and tight controls. To inspire confidence, we have to start with self - be confident yourself and grow and learn at every opportunity. There is so much available that we can learn daily and in fact have to curate what we learn so that we don’t become overwhelmed. Know your goals and focus your learning towards those goals. Jerry Mabena the Chairperson of the STH board says it so well - “We don’t need to know it all and must also unlearn and relearn”. As the CEO of You (Pty) Ltd who is on your team? To inspire confidence, have a mentor to guide you and whose experience you can tap into and most importantly will give you direct feedback for improvement and a coach to keep you focused. Consider who is on your cheerleading team – people around you who encourage you and cheer you over the line. You will not reach the highest levels of success on your own. Be an active listener, knowing you don’t have all the answers but can tap into your Inspiring Confidence Ms. Karen Borain, Training and Development Manager at Tsogo Sun Hotels and Professional Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation
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