Give Your Workers More Confidence in Your Abilities
Being in charge of a group of people can be exhilarating and intimidating in equal measure. When we have a business to run, we have to remember that there are so many different moving parts to an organization, and we are the glue that binds it together. When we feel that we are barely keeping it together, this doesn’t inspire confidence in our employees. They look to us as the beacon of hope. So what can you do if you feel like this beneath the surface, but still want to give your workers more confidence in your abilities across the board?
Give Them The Basics And Build From There
It is incredible how many organizations don’t give their employees the very basics in every sense of the word. There is a foundation of trust and contentment in giving your employees the very basics, whether it’s pens and paper in an office environment or women’s scrubs in a healthcare environment. These things are needed to form a foundation.
When you go to someone, and they can’t even give you a pen and paper, you think that they are incompetent. So many entrepreneurs have tried to run before they can walk. And many people believe that to show themselves off to be confident and forthright that they provide the complexities and the higher end goals. But you’ve got to remember that the basics have to be there.
It’s not just in terms of business practices or processes, but if you don’t have the basics in something like common sense, how are you able to make big decisions? You have to lead from the front, but you also have to make sure the foundation is there.
Think of it as a safety net. If the foundation is not there, people are going to fall through the cracks pretty quickly and will not have confidence in your abilities to lead them.
Respect Their Time
People will lose confidence in you if you have no respect for their time. You must be prepared to listen to your employees, or they will lose trust in you in 5 seconds flat.
When people put their faith in your abilities, you have to be respectful of the fact that they’ve put their eggs in your basket. The least you can do is respect them when they need something from you. After all, you are asking so much of them that if they really need your help it doesn’t take long to listen to their query.
There are many people that feel they are too busy and important and have no time to dilly-dally and if this is you it’s time to learn to slow down. If you feel there is no time to do everything, it’s now the opportunity to work smarter instead of harder.
Learn To Keep Calm
Stress is a default setting for any entrepreneur. There are so many components that can threaten to derail us through the course of the day. If you learn to keep calm during stressful times, you will inspire others to do the same.
Some people feel that you should be stressed because this is how you will show that you care, but stress is counterproductive, and it has such a lingering effect afterward. If you live a hectic life or you are forever running late, all of these components can become part of your default emotion. If you work in a hectic environment running around all of the time, it isn’t right for you in the long run.
We’ve got to remember that when everything is so stressful that if you have a calm and focused mindset, you will be able to focus on the real issue instead of the distractions. When we feel stressed, we focus on our emotions rather than the problem at hand. This is why it’s counterproductive.
Make it a part of your practice to focus on being calm. Whether it’s minimizing the symptomatic feelings of stress or learning to problem-solve more effectively, this will benefit you in your work and your life.
Stress never feels good to anyone. This is why you’ve got to focus on that steady sensation actively. There is an excellent value in keeping calm when everything around you is swirling like a tornado. This will give workers a confidence in your abilities.
Think!
Every action you make will send a message. In the entrepreneurial environment, it is crucial to be a quick thinker, but this doesn’t mean that you should blurt out whatever comes into your brain. It’s still possible to be thoughtful and make decisions quickly. But you have to remember when you are making any statement that you think about it soon before you say it.
You can still be focused and fast. It’s just about practicing your thinking skills. Look at the leaders that have to make life or death decisions every single day. They do it with grace and confidence because there is no other option.
Leaders have to show this confidence because the decision they are making has such an impact on everyone else. Learning how to hold yourself with confidence can say a lot. Components like posture can subconsciously communicate to someone else that you are calm and considered.
In Conclusion
Many leaders are there because they like to be in charge, but the important people in the world that are in charge of governments and armies have that little something more. If you want to give people confidence in your abilities, you’ve got to work on that psychological makeup but also make sure that you give the employees the right message.
It can be exhausting trying to put up this front of defiance, but people can see through it. Rather than learning to fake it until you make it, if you can start to create this personality from the inside, this is what will inspire everybody.
Alyson Pittman is a contributing writer for WBD and a JR marketing associate for Excite Creative Studios, an Atlanta-based creative agency.
Alyson graduated from Kennesaw State University with a Bachelors of Business Administration and a concentration in Marketing. She was in multiple organizations at KSU where she held leadership positions. As a part of the Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority, Alyson held the Social Coordinator position and planned/promoted large events.
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