Unleashing confidence at work will help you feel better about the work you do, improve your productivity and help you get noticed for more opportunities.

I work with many women who have humility as a top strength. While humility is an admirable trait, when overplayed at work it will result in not asking for promotions, not speaking up in meetings or not taking the lead on projects… that you know you could crush. When we lack confidence not only do we diminish our self-worth, we also dim our light so others don’t see our value either.

Unleashing confidence at work will help you:

• Feel in control more often at work,
• Manage your time and resources more effectively,
• Be more optimistic and positive about projects and opportunities,
• Make decisions faster and with less deliberation or procrastination,
• Bring out the best in your team and
• Become more resilient in the face of challenges and workplace issues.

Here are six ideas to unleash your confidence and bring out the best in your team too.

1) BREATHE

First step in any challenge is to breathe, you can’t focus or regain your own confidence until you have your body back under control. Take 5 deep breaths and re-oxygenate both your body and your brain. This activates the parasympathetic nervous system and resets your body and mind to the present moment.

2) NAME THE GREMLINS

Take a moment to think about the current challenges you face. Sometimes brainstorming these out on a page starts to clarify why your confidence has taken a dive and helps to identify the issues at hand. If you have a million tasks to juggle, get them all down on a mind map and start to identify what can get dumped and delegated – before you even begin to think about your priority. Yes, I still experience self doubt. I still question how much value I can give to people twice my age with ten times my experience. But – I can hear the gremlins, and then choose to ignore them. Because I’ve learned that if I let them win, I wouldn’t have a career at all.

3) SELF COMPASSION

Cut yourself some slack. When you criticise your own efforts, it’s only natural your confidence and motivation crumble. We all fail, and we all struggle at times, the faster you can accept you’re human, and deserve a little kindness and compassion, the faster you can rebuild your confidence. Think of a small kid learning to ride a bike, if you stood by heckling them about how terrible they were, or that they’ll never get it right, it wouldn’t take long for them to give up would it?

4) DITCH THE COMPARISON

No one is better than you. FULL STOP! Different, absolutely, but not better. No one has your beautiful combination of skills, ideas, knowledge or experience. They are yours alone. You are competent, resourceful and perfectly imperfect. Realise the unique value you offer and acknowledge that beauty lies in being different…. And confidence resides in celebrating that difference wholeheartedly.

5) HUNT DOWN THE GOOD STUFF

Deliberately find some good stuff about you. It might be a sale you contributed to, or a presentation your boss did that you found ALL the data for. You often contribute to others success, but, (with humility as a strength), you can fail to recognise your own efforts. Start noticing what you do well and where your strengths lie.

6) GET A GOLD STAR

Find a way of consistently recognising your skills, contributions and efforts. Grab a sticker or a gold star (or something that’s personally symbolic) and fix it to your bathroom mirror or laptop or diary. When you see it, remember to notice something positive about yourself and in no time you’ll unleash your confidence and get noticed for the awesome work you do.

The journey towards unleashing confidence at work starts within.

If you’ve realised that you overplay your humility (and struggle with professional confidence), it might be time for some professional development. Clients I’ve worked with learn to manage their headspace first and then extend that practice to unleashing their confidence so they can get more done and lead their teams more successfully.

Remember, building professional confidence is a process and wont happen overnight. Trust me, I’m 18 years into this businses, and it still takes time and energy to maintain my professional confidence. It will take practice and patience to consistently recognise the positives and manage those nasty gremlins. However, the rewards are substantial – improved productivity, better relationships, and loads more professional opportunities.

As you unleash your confidence at work more often, you’ll not only bring out the best in yourself but also create a great work environment for your team too.