Recently I had two separate leaders from completely different organizations tell me they didn’t think their team could be successful around accomplishing the challenge at hand.
And they’re right.
Because if the leader has a crisis of confidence, then the team questions their own competence. An insecure, apprehensive team will struggle to be successful.
Often in my work I talk about creating an empowering context for your team. And what I can tell you is one of the key ingredients is confidence in your team.
Studies have shown that high expectations lead to high performance. We take someone else’s belief in our ability as proof of our capability – and we want to prove them right.
Believe in the potential of your people to:
- be innovative
- tackle the most difficult of challenges
- overcome hurt feelings
- do what’s best for the organization
Because if you don’t believe they can, neither will they.
And let’s say you feel you have good reason for having a crisis of confidence. Then ask yourself – what’s in the way? Or what’s missing? Chances are it’s not about the team. It’s likely about a process, an individual, an unresolved issue or a resource gap. All of these are challenges that can be addressed and overcome (rather than an overarching, pit-of-your-stomach, nebulous, unsolvable uncertainty.)
Then ask the team to help you tackle and overcome the obstacle.
“Because we’re a group of smart, committed people. And yes, this isn’t easy. And I know that together we can accomplish just about anything we set our minds to. We’ve got this.”
Empower yourself with more great leadership wisdom–check out Culture Works. Also available on Amazon.
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Kris Boesch is the CEO and Founder of Choose People, a company that transforms company cultures, increases employee happiness and boosts the bottom-line. She is a nationally renowned speaker and workplace culture expert. Boesch is also the author of Culture Works: How to Create Happiness in the Workplace and developer of the Choose People 360° Culture Audit. Kris is also a proud mother, dancing diva and dog lover.
