The difference between most of us and the uber successful people in the world is confidence. Yes, some of them are very smart but the truly successful ones are confident to try something different or feel more confident in their ability.
The All Blacks have had long periods of having confidence as did the Australian cricket team (RIP Shane Warne). How did they get it? They got it by being outstanding at what they do and feeling confident in knowing what they needed to do to be successful. Who didn’t have confidence? Most of the teams that came up against these teams when they were at the top of their games. The results were almost always confirmed before these teams even made it to their fields. Confidence is a significant competitive advantage – and not just in the sporting arena.
Confidence is top of mind for me at the moment as we see it being rocked in a number of ways both internationally and domestically. Yes, there are many things out of our control but the last thing we want to do is lose our confidence both in overall business and in our individual performance.
I had a call recently from someone who connected with me on LinkedIn and then took the opportunity to call me to see if I was interested in what he was selling. Can I say right off the bat that I love getting ‘cold calls”, maybe not all the time but when I do receive them (hardly ever) I love hearing how people approach me as a prospect for them. However, this person I struggled with. Not because they were rude but because they were clearly nervous and lacked confidence in their approach which in turn made me not have confidence in them. I needed what he was selling but his lack of confidence made me question his product.
It is the number one thing that our Sales Academy members say about their development with us is that it increases their confidence so when they are in front of a customer that customer feels faith in them.
There is nothing wrong with being under confident, but I think the most important thing we can do is to do something about it. Run towards the fear as All Blacks Mindset Coach ‘Gilbert Enoka” says.
I remember a sales call I made (I can even remember the person’s name) literally in my first week of sales. I made a complete shambles of it, I left this busy person confused what I was calling about and it knocked my confidence but the more I worked at it the more comfortable I became until I could laugh about it and it spurred me on.
If you are a leader I would challenge you to think about your team, are they as good or as confident as they seem? What are you doing to increase their confidence? I watched the documentary on Shane Warne recently and one thing that stuck with me was he was struggling in one of his early cricket tests, “I felt intimidated, I felt nervous, I didn’t think I was good enough” until the Captain Allan Border said to him, “mate, it will all be ok you are doing good”. After this one comment he literally went out and won the game.
As a leader are you instilling confidence in your team?
How to build your confidence:
- Work for a company that values and develops you
- Sell a product or service that you believe in
- Know your company, product, service and how this impacts clients intimately
- Use positive body language such as smiling or chest out before meetings
- Stand when talking on the phone
- Dress well
- Savor the taste of success and move quickly from failure
- Build great habits to keep you mentally and physically fit
- Expect to be successful
