Episode 29
How to fill your confidence bucket with Judy Braun
January 23, 2020
Projecting confidence is a timeless and critical success factor for leaders in just about any position. Your skills, abilities, and intelligence can all be diminished in the eyes of others if you don't show your ability to lead teams and projects, as well as handle challenging conversations and clients. In episode 29, Diana talks with Judy Braun, author of Show Up Confidently, about how talent champions can gain confidence and inspire it in others.
You can connect with Judy on LinkedIn, through her website or via email.
Projecting Confidence: Key takeaways from episode 29
A confident person shows confidence in his or her physical demeanor, including eye contact and clear, assertive speaking. Confident people contribute in meetings and group discussions, take risks, admit mistakes, and speak to their contributions.
Someone who’s struggling with confidence has closed-off body language and is hesitant or reluctant when speaking. When they do contribute in meetings, they add qualifying statements that diminish their comments. They’re unaware of their own strengths.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is someone who’s overly confident, or arrogant. These people lack a sense of humility and can be overly aggressive. Complete the form at the bottom of this page to download a helpful chart from Judy that will help you identify where you fall on the confidence spectrum.
Confidence can come from our upbringing, but managers and peers can also play a critical role in boosting your confidence. Men and women tend to differ in the ways they express confidence, and these differences can be cultural as well. Judy consistently reinforced the need to stay humble, but also to take risks, speak up, and make your value known.
You can gain confidence by fostering a learner mindset, take initiative and get involved in new areas, and regularly asking for feedback. If these are difficult, start by resolving to speak up more often and be more mindful of your physical appearance and voice. How are you coming across?
When you’re in a challenging situation that diminishes your confidence, examine your self talk. If you’ve made a big mistake or experienced a failure, remind yourself of past successes. Learn from what went wrong and move forward with new knowledge about how to do better in the future.
Keep your self talk balanced and constructive. Perpetual ruminating on your failures will produce more failures in the future. What can you learn from what went wrong? What will you do differently next time?
Confidence is a bucket that is filled through small, incremental experiences. Actively seek ways to fill the confidence buckets of the people around you. Give feedback, encourage someone to take a risk, and take the time to debrief when things don’t go as planned.
Show Up Confidently Chart: Bonus content download
Complete the form to access Judy’s Show Up Confidently Chart to help you identify where you fall on the confidence spectrum.
