IT Leadership

Focusing on leading yourself before leading a team is an often overlooked aspect of leadership. Throughout this article, we will delve into the ways in which developing confidence will help you become a stronger leader, and the ways in which you can continue to cultivate that confidence to propel yourself, and your team, to new heights of success. There are few better places to start than the age-old question: what is leadership?

What is Leadership?

There is no shortage of definitions for what leadership means. In its essence, leadership can be understood as a relationship in which one person influences others towards common goals or objectives. The leadership is the person or group influencing, while the followers are those who are influenced. An understanding of leadership dynamics is particularly pertinent to businesses because they are fundamentally composed of individuals who collectively work towards complex objectives and goals.

Leadership is not just about getting the job done; it is about inspiring people towards a common goal, and motivating them to achieve more than they thought possible. It is about cultivating a following of dedicated employees who want to work hard for you, for themselves, and for the company. Employees who feel motivated by their leadership are more likely to be engaged in their work, which has been widely studied and consistently linked to increased productivity and superior performance. Helping your employees find their inner confidence will help them become catalysts for company success, but nothing undermines confidence quite like poor leadership.

Understanding the Importance of Self-Confidence in Leadership

If leadership is about influencing others, then it is imperative that leaders themselves possess a strong inner core and an abundance of self-confidence. Inner confidence is indispensable because it enables leaders to control the variables that they can, and to be resilient in the face of difficulties. They are able to foster more effective communication with their team and are better poised to make difficult decisions with clarity. Inner confidence is infectious, and confident leaders encourage those around them to be confident in themselves and in their work.

Confidence is particularly important when leaders are confronted with novel or complex problems. This past year has exemplified the need for leadership in the face of novel challenges. A pandemic, and the ensuing need for social distancing and remote work, have upended the way many businesses operate. Confident leaders were and are better equipped to make the difficult decisions needed to steer their businesses through these turbulent times.

Consider the difference between a leader who is clear, confident, and communicative, versus one who is uncertain, indecisive, and unclear in their communication. The difference is not merely theoretical: a recent study linking leadership communication to employee sentiment and productivity uncovered that employees who experienced clear, candid communication from their leaders were more likely to feel valued, and in turn, were more productive and more likely to stay with the company. Employees working under confident, clear leaders are also more likely to internalize those traits themselves, thereby fostering a culture of confidence.

It is important to remember, however, that confident leadership is not the same as authoritarian leadership. On the contrary, the most successful leaders are often those who can balance their own confidence with humility and openness to new ideas and perspectives. Indeed, an openness to new perspectives is another key marker of confident leadership, particularly when leaders acknowledge that they do not have all the answers and that novel problems may require novel solutions that have not yet been conceived.

The Challenges of Leading in the Face of Uncertainty

Despite the clear importance of confidence in leadership, it can be remarkably difficult to maintain confidence in the face of uncertainty, especially when your decisions have significant consequences for many people. In these moments, leaders may experience a crisis of confidence that can undermine their ability to lead effectively. Indeed, imposter syndrome is common in many high-achieving individuals, including those in positions of power.

Even seasoned leaders may experience moments of self-doubt or anxiety about their capacity to make the right decision, especially when confronting novel problems that have no clear solution. What is important to remember in these moments is that confidence is not an innate trait: it is something that must be worked at, cultivated, and practiced in order to internalize it and draw upon it in times of need.

In some ways, a leader’s confidence can be undermined by their own perfectionism or unrealistic standards. No one can be expected to have all the answers all of the time, and a key component of confident leadership is recognizing that you are doing the best you can, even when uncertainty is pervasive. This is not to say that you should not have high expectations for yourself and others, but that those expectations should be grounded in reality and matched with compassion for yourself and others.

When leading in uncertain times, it can feel like you are standing in the midst of a storm, watching what feels like everything you have worked for being torn apart. In these moments, it can be easy to slip into despair or reactivity, responding to each crisis as it comes without a broader vision for how to move forward. When leading a team through uncertain times, it is imperative that you take time to ground yourself, remind yourself of your own capabilities and the capabilities of those around you, and systematically work through the challenges that you face.

How to Lead with Confidence

So, what are the practical steps that you can take to cultivate confidence and become a stronger leader? While there are many facets to this question, here are a few key areas to focus on: cultivating self-awareness, developing a strong communication strategy, motivating and inspiring your team, and seeking opportunities for growth.

Cultivate Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is a foundational pillar on which many other leadership skills rest. The path to becoming a more confident leader begins with a deeper understanding of yourself: your goals, your weaknesses, your strengths, and the values you wish to uphold both in your professional and personal life.
Self-awareness can also help you to understand your biases, your triggers, and what constitutes a personal or professional challenge for you. This will enable you to be more intentional in your decision-making, and more confident in your ability to make the right decision for you and for your team, even in the face of difficulties.

Self-awareness is also the starting point for developing empathy, which is a crucial skill for leaders. Leaders who are more self-aware are also better equipped to understand and empathize with those around them and to recognize and mitigate their own biases. This empathy will enable you to communicate more effectively with your team and to help individuals on your team reach their own moments of self-awareness, thereby fostering a culture of confidence and mutual understanding.

Develop a Strategic Communication Plan

Communication is key to confident leadership. Your communication strategy should encompass a myriad of ways in which you communicate, including one-on-one interactions with colleagues, team meetings, group messaging, and email.
Effective communication need not be elaborate, but it does need to be clear. You should strive to convey information in a direct and simple way, using plain language that is easy for everyone to understand. Take the time to ensure that your messages are understood by providing clarification and reiterating important points.

Communication certainty and clarity, particularly when the messages are complex or difficult to share, is a hallmark of confident leadership. It is not surprising that leaders who are clearer, more confident in their communication, and more candid are perceived as being more trustworthy by their employees. Trust is a key component of any relationship, and this is particularly true in the relationship between leader and follower.

Motivate and Inspire Your Team

As a leader, you can visualize the goals and objectives of the organization, and it is your job to inspire and motivate your team to help achieve those goals. There are few better ways to motivate people than by helping them to find confidence in themselves and their abilities, and this starts with how you communicate with and motivate your team.

One way to motivate and inspire your team is to offer recognition for a job well done. This doesn’t need to be formal, public recognition (though that certainly has its place in the workplace), but rather, it can be as simple as expressing personal thanks for their hard work and dedication. This has the added benefit of fostering a culture of gratitude and recognition, which can help to boost morale and motivate your team to continue to work hard.

Another way to inspire your team is to lead by example. Your team is sure to have times of uncertainty or moments when they feel overwhelmed, particularly in times of change or uncertainty. It is your job to demonstrate how to persevere through these times while maintaining focus on the goals and objectives at hand. By demonstrating resilience in the face of difficulties, you inspire your team to do the same.

Seek Opportunities for Growth

As a leader, it is imperative that you seek opportunities for growth and learning both for yourself and for your team. Leading a team is a complex and dynamic endeavor, and there are always new skills to be learned, perspectives to be heard, and strategies to be developed. By seeking out these opportunities, you are able to bring new ideas and strategies to your team, thereby expanding everyone’s capacity for growth and success.

Part of this growth also involves soliciting feedback from those around you. This is perhaps one of the most difficult things to do for those in positions of power, but also one of the most important. Confidence is not only about projecting strength and certainty, but about having the strength and security to hear and internalize difficult feedback.

Seeking opportunities for growth also involves a willingness to make mistakes and to acknowledge those mistakes. It can be difficult, especially for those in positions of power, to admit that they are wrong or that they made a mistake. Doing so is not a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of strength and confidence. It demonstrates to your team that you are not infallible, that you are willing to own up to your mistakes, and that you are willing to learn from them.

Conclusion

Leading yourself before you lead a team is fundamental to being an effective leader. Focus on developing and cultivating your self-confidence and resilience, especially in the face of uncertainty or complex problems. Remember that confidence is a skill that must be practiced and honed, and that it is something you must continue to work at even when you are at the top of your game.

Leading with confidence means communicating clearly and effectively, motivating and inspiring your team, and seeking opportunities for personal and collective growth. It also means recognizing when you are struggling, and having the confidence to admit when you may need help or support.