Having confidence in yourself at work goes beyond making the occasional presentation, although it’s important then, of course. You also need confidence that you can do the job you’ve been hired, and probably paid a lot of money to learn, how to do.
Too often we don’t have confidence in ourselves, that we can actually do the job. And that’s unfortunate, because that can affect our performance. Take this article from the Harvard Business Review: It says that even if you have insecurities about your job, they don’t have to hold you back.
So how do we overcome it? The article suggests that we start by assessing our abilities and shortcomings, and honestly so. If we take stock of what we do well, we can have more confidence in how we do it; and knowing our weaknesses helps us take the first step of how to improve them. Plus, the more we practice a skill, the better we get at it — just like any other skill. We practice a speech a few times before we give it, right?
But don’t be afraid to take risks, either. There have been plenty of times I was thrown a project at the last minute, and even though I wasn’t sure if I could handle it, I ended up doing a fine job. Most of the time, I wrap up the project thinking, “That wasn’t so bad.”
What do you think? How have you built confidence in your profession?
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Image courtesy of glsims99 via Flickr
