Confidence is a great thing. It gives you a winning edge in the work you do. Whether you’re a manager, a make-up artist or a marketer, confidence will take you places. When you display confidence, people are more likely to trust you with greater responsibility and better opportunities.
There are people who would rather not display any kind of confidence in their career for different reasons.
Some of them simply do not want more responsibilities or opportunities. As you may already know, this is self-sabotaging. If you do not have bigger opportunities, you will not grow personally or professionally. You will keep doing the same things over and over again, and it’s only a matter of time before you become quite redundant in the ever-changing world of work.
Some other people do not show any confidence because they do not want to be perceived as arrogant. There is a difference between arrogance and confidence. Arrogance has to with your comparison to other people. It makes you believe that you’re better than everyone else and cannot be corrected. Confidence, on the other hand, focuses on your knowledge of your own ability to get the work done or learn how to do it. It deals directly with you and your capabilities.
One way to develop more confidence at work is to sit down and take stock of your skills. Make a list of all the skills that you have, whether you derived them from a natural ability or by deliberate learning. Include your ‘hard skills’ and your ‘soft skills’.
Hard skills are the technical abilities and knowledge needed to perform specific tasks. Examples are: administrative skills, architectural skills, baking skills, event planning skills, graphic design skills, legal skills, teaching skills, web design skills, etc.
Soft skills are ‘people skills’ or ‘interpersonal skills’. These pertain to the way relate to the way you relate to and interact with other people. Examples are: team-building, negotiation skills, decision-making skills, networking skills, time-management skills, etc.
Knowledge is power. When you’re armed with the knowledge of the skills you have to offer to the world, your level of confidence will increase. Additionally, you will be able to make the right choices for your career and your life in general. You will be able to celebrate your uniqueness instead of wishing you were like someone else. You will understand the amazing possibilities that you have to offer in the world of work.
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