Lack of confidence as a female leader is a career-crusher. It affects your performance, your self-esteem, your potential, and your opportunities.
It zaps away at your energy, undermines your executive presence, and dilutes the impact of your personal brand and professional image.
So why do so many female leaders suffer in silence? Preferring to stay hidden in the shadows rather than stepping into the light share our voice, vision and value with the world?
Lack of confidence is one of the biggest female leadership traits holding us back as leaders today. Despite having more opportunities today than ever before, we still have that little nagging voice in our head that questions “Do I really have what it takes?” or “What if I fail?
As women, we are still conditioned to view ourselves as the underdogs.
How Does Lack Of Confidence Affect Us As Female Leaders?
Your lack of confidence negatively shifts people’s perception of you as a competent female leader making you less influential.
Your ability to attract opportunities and be seen as an effective leader can be largely attributed to confidence and is essential to building your energy, image, passion, and brand presence.You also risk being constantly pushed aside for promotions or opportunities to step up for team presentations, leadership roles, partnerships and collaborations, or public speaking – all the while your more confident colleagues and contemporaries rise up the ladder to greater success.
So what can you do if your whole life and career you have been someone who steps back from the limelight believing that if you keep your head down and work hard, someone is bound to notice your full leadership potential eventually?
With some simple confidence hacks, you will conquer your confidence dilemma, raise your internal bar to be recognised as a more influential and empowering leader in your field (and stop being left behind).
Also, check out: Here’s Why Your Lack of Confidence Is Hurting Your Personal Brand And Leadership Image + Leadership Style Worksheet
Confidence Hacks For Women Leaders
Leading With Confidence Starts With A Vision
Embodying your leadership potential is a journey. But it all starts within.
Everything you do –from the way you think, feel, speak, and act –is an exercise in building your leadership style and presence.
Do you have belief in your ability to lead? The motivation, focus and drive? Do you have the vision and energy to create something bigger than yourself? Can you inspire and move people to support and invest in your vision?
Getting clear on your values and vision will help you push for greatness, raise your internal bar and help inspire you to motivate others.
And the most significant advantage of all is as your confidence grows, you will begin to self-lead! Lost opportunities will be a thing of the past, and instead, you will have more courage to create the future you want, unlocking more incredible foresight and vision for growth and professional development.
The best place to start to be recognised (and feel like) a more confident and credible female leader, authority and industry expert, is to realise your full value by unlocking your unique point of difference and leadership potential. Then you can start to leverage and maximise these leadership traits to amplify your personal brand and image to make your mark.
Be Accountable About How You Feel
Confidence can come and go. And the truth is you can still be achieving your goals and be suffering from a lack of confidence.
So the first thing to do is acknowledge when you feel this way and be accountable for it.
Stepping into your confidence as a professional woman starts with taking ownership and accountability around what’s coming up for you in your mindset.
Do you recognise how you’re feeling? What are your triggers? What tools and success rituals or strategies do you have in place to help you regain your confidence when it wanes? Who do you have around you in your circle of influence for support and guidance? Do you have a business coach or mentor to give you advice?
So much of success is a mindset. You can think that you are pushing yourself forward, forging on, to accomplish your goals when you are actually just going through the motions and no longer feeling empowered by the wins.
This brings me to my next confidence hack…
You might also want to check out: How To Go Against The Grain And Follow Your Dreams + Design Your Life Worksheet
Get Resourceful With Achieving Your Leadership Goals
When you lack self-belief, it can be easy to accept defeat. Don’t lose sight of your dream or vision. Instead, get resourceful. Be clear on your destination and keep forging at every turn and every hurdle.
Be aware of your options, keep learning and get resourceful about navigating any challenges that may come your way to remain fiercely on your pathway to success.
Don’t know how to do something or lack knowledge or a particular area or skill set? Try something new that you don’t know how to do! Start with educating yourself and gathering information. Get resourceful so you can continue to learn and grow.
It all starts with a decision that you will let your lack of knowledge stop you from achieving what you set out to do!
Don’t get intimidated by the uncertainty or difficulty of the task. Your biggest asset is the value you gain through growth and learning.
You might also be interested: How To Set Goals To Achieve Your Dreams (Without Giving Up!) + Ultimate Goal Setting Guide
Don’t Be Afraid To Disrupt Your Life (In A Good Way!)
Just like stress, there is good disruption and bad disruption.
As an athlete, I learned to disrupt my training and performance routine intermittently. And it is a performance technique I have adopted in my professional life too. Every time I feel like I’ve been functioning on ‘repeat’ and my motivation and confidence wanes, I modify my routine and look for creative alternatives to disrupt the status quo.
The change in routine allows me to shift my energy, raise my internal (mind) and external (physical) bar. I explore my capabilities and creativity and avoid getting stuck in my comfort zone
By going down unexplored territory, I build up my confidence by facing the uncertain and new head on. I push myself to overcome any self-limiting beliefs I may have unconsciously cultivated and force myself to push my own boundaries. I connect my mind and body to achieve peak performance.
So think like an athlete and change up your routine. Even micro changes can have a positive effect on you! Start with doing something challenging or daunting for at least 30 days and you’ll be surprised at how much you can grow and change in one month.
Go one step further and disrupt your mindset! Recalibrate your thinking patterns and reignite your passion and creativity to create bigger and bolder milestones for yourself. Explore any biases, prejudices, or underlying thoughts you have. And then challenge yourself to break through them.
Once you get into the habit of acting rather than retreating from daily challenges, you’ll be able to train your mind, body, and spirit to take bigger risks and obstacles with confidence and belief in yourself. Just like how any leader would face a challenge with total belief that she’ll overcome it, you too can begin to change your habits to become more confident, driven, and resilient.
Strike a Pose! Be Empowered By Your Body Language
Have you ever heard of Amy Cuddy? She’s an American social psychologist who developed self-improvement techniques based on “power posing.”
Power posing is the art of using your body to increase your energy levels, change your mood, and give you an overall boost in positive energy. It’s a quick confidence hack that you can use when you need an instant pick-me-up.
I use this instant pick me up all the time to reinvigorate and energize my body and mind and give me a boost of confidence! This simple, scientifically proven technique works.
There are other ways to get the benefits of practising positive body language. Even just a few minutes of walking or stretching is enough to boost your energy and release endorphins.
Creating physical rituals that shift your energy, calm your nerves or prep your mind are valuable tools to elevate your leadership and executive presence.
Also read: How To Dress Like An Empowered Female Leader (And Feel Unstoppable Too!) + 5 STEP WORKBOOK
Develop Your Leadership Skills and Rise to the Top! I’ll Help You Unlock Your Leadership Potential
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Other Useful Links And Resources:
Unlock Your Personal Brand’s Superpowers + Personal Branding Training Resource
How To Craft A Powerful Leadership Style That Gets You Noticed! + 5-Step Worksheet
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