{"id":37584,"date":"2023-05-23T10:42:26","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T10:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mindtools.com\/?p=37584"},"modified":"2024-11-22T10:39:49","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T10:39:49","slug":"self-confidence-you-are-what-you-think-you-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mindtools.com\/blog\/self-confidence-you-are-what-you-think-you-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-Confidence: You Are What You Think You Are"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“See that big clock down there?” said the security guard, pointing the way down the long service road that ran alongside a huge great building. “Turn right there, take the elevator up to the sixth floor, and you\u2019ll find it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sounded easy enough, but it wasn’t. After 14 years as a journalist, this was to be my first ever shift at a national newspaper, a job I’d wanted to do for as long as I could remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I looked up at the big clock, emblazoned with my new employer’s name, and took a deep breath. I stepped into the elevator and pressed “six.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as it lurched upwards, I couldn’t seem to turn off that voice in my head telling me, “You\u2019re not good enough. You’ll never match up to these people working here. Just go home and do something else \u2013 anything else.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I almost didn’t get off when those doors opened. But I did. “This is your chance,” I told myself, “You’ve trained for this, you’re good enough, you can do it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it turned out, I could, and did, do it for the next 17 years. Yes, it took a while to get to grips with the processes, the IT, the characters, and the culture, but that’s the same in any job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I guess it’s natural to have a moment of doubt when you take that great leap into the unknown: a feeling new managers know all too well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nIndustrialist and inventor, Henry Ford<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Aside from learning new skills and procedures, managers need to build a successful team and maintain good relationships with their team members, all while in a new position of greater authority. Not to mention making a good impression on the C-suite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these new pressures and responsibilities can be daunting, to say the least, and make any new manager lose faith in themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three Steps to Believe in Yourself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fundamentally, what you’ll need to succeed in all of the above is a combination of self-confidence, self-esteem and self-efficacy. Let’s face it, if you don’t believe in yourself, your team and the people around you probably won’t either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what are these magic ingredients for successfully overcoming the challenges that a new role can throw at us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n