Managers Need Confidence - Here's How You Can Get It!

Published on: June 29, 2022

When you picture someone with management skills, you may picture someone who is extremely confident and poised, with an outgoing personality that makes them a natural leader. Yet sometimes, people are placed in leadership roles when they lack this natural disposition. What can you do if you are a more introverted person, but you find yourself in a position of leadership?

Thankfully, confidence does not require an outgoing personality, and it is something you can learn. By focusing on building your confidence, you can transform yourself from a hesitant, introverted person to a successful leader with a team that trusts you and does their best to support your organization’s goals.

Why Should a Manager Be Confident?

When you are in a position of leadership, remember that the people you lead will follow your example. This means that if you are confident, they are more likely to be confident. If you are uncertain, your team members are more likely to feel uncertain as well. Thus, confidence is important.

Confident leadership also translates into a company customers feel comfortable doing business with. When the leadership comes across as hesitant or lacking in confidence, potential clients may hesitate to do business with them. If you can gain confidence and pass that confidence off to your team members, you will find that people trust you more.

To motivate people to perform their best, you must exude confidence in your own work. That will spread to your people, and your entire group will be more efficient and effective.

Yet, confidence often does not come naturally. What can you do if you are not naturally confident? Thankfully, this is a skill you can build in yourself and then in your people.

Ways to Build Confidence as a Manager

So, what can you do if you are not naturally confident? Building confidence as a manager takes work, but it is work worth doing. It will make you more effective at your job, and you will see better performance out of your people as a result. Here are some steps to take to build your confidence.

Evaluate Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Just because you are in leadership does not mean you have no weaknesses. Your first step is to identify them, so you can have realistic expectations about them. If you can overcome a particular weakness, take the effort to do so, but give yourself realistic expectations about your weaknesses as you move forward. Sometimes, you can choose to partner with another manager on your team to help overcome your weaknesses, or you can add team members that support those weak areas.

Another thing to do is to maximize your strengths. Play into them and increase them. This will increase your confidence, too.

For example, are you a good listener, but not necessarily a good verbal communicator? This does not mean you are a bad leader. Learn to listen to others, and use what you gain to formulate plans that work. Then, tap into others who can communicate verbally on your behalf. This combination will be effective, and you will capitalize on your personal strengths while finding the right support for your weaknesses.

Look and Act the Part

You’ve heard the phrase “fake it ‘til you make it,” and this can be applied directly to your confidence. Sometimes, because you are in a position of leadership, you must put on the act of confidence, even if you are not feeling it internally. If you can appear confident, people will think you are, even if you are shaking in your proverbial boots.

There are a few ways to do this. First, dress like someone who is confident. Your wardrobe should be professional and make you feel great about yourself. Also, carry yourself in a confident way. Act confident first, and the feelings will follow. Even if they don't, no one else will know that you are not confident.

Look to Others for Help

You become like the people you hang around with, so surround yourself with a network of people who are confident. Your professional and personal network alike should be filled with confident people. Learn from them and spend time with them, and you will come to see their confidence mirrored in you.

You can also be more decisive about seeking help from others. For example, consider choosing a role model or mentor, too. Choose someone with confidence, and ask if they would be willing to mentor you. Then, tap into that mentorship relationship, asking for advice about how you, too, can be confident.

Finally, make sure you ask for help. When you are struggling with your confidence, find confident people who can support you and help you find your confidence again.

Focus on the Positive

Sometimes, you will be your own worst enemy when it comes to confidence. Negative self-talk will degrade any confidence you have built up, so you must weed it out of your life. Yet it is incredibly easy to fall victim to negative self-talk. We are often our own worst critics. Train your brain to stop the negative talk in its tracks and replace it with something positive. When you hear negative talk weaving its way into your mind, stop it and focus on what you can learn from the situation you face.

Finally, strive to be a positive role model for your team. They will reflect your positivity, which is a good thing for all of you.

Maintain a Work/Life Balance

On occasion, take time away from work. It is easy to be so driven by work and your desire to find success there that you forget to enjoy daily life at home. If you suffer from burnout, it could undermine your self-confidence. Schedule time off regularly to avoid the risk of burnout.

Take time to develop hobbies or skills that you enjoy outside of your work. While this will not directly affect your job, it will help you build confidence. When you have success in things outside of work, you will find that it flows into your workplace, too. Your hobbies will also bring you joy, and that joy will help you come back to work with the energy to tackle tasks.

Never Stop Learning and Growing

A good leader is always learning and growing. If you want your people to push themselves towards success, you are going to need to do the same thing. Never stop challenging yourself, and be willing to step outside of your own comfort zone. Your team members will follow your example.

Take advantage of opportunities for growth and improvement, such as learning a new skill or pursuing additional education.

Finally, seek professional development training. It will take you outside of your comfort zone and help you gain new skills you can put to work right away. Additional training will help you gain confidence as you build your management skills and improve yourself. Whatever you do, your team will mirror, so adding additional training will improve your organization's success.

Start Building Confidence with Husson University

If you are serious about building confidence, additional training in management may be an important part of the process. Husson University has a few programs that can help. Our Bachelor of Science in Business Administration is a good foundational program for new managers who find themselves struggling with confidence. It will teach you how to lead people well, and that will improve your confidence. If you already have an undergraduate degree, consider the Master of Business Administration. This degree could propel you towards greater leadership opportunities while expanding upon your existing education. Both degrees are online programs, so you can easily pursue them while still leading your team and working in your organization.

Reach out to the Husson University team today to learn more about our BSBA Management and MBA programs, and see if they are what you need to build your own confidence. Talk to an admissions counselor to learn more about your options.

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