Believe in You

Several years ago, I enjoyed reading the book The Help and one of my favorite quotes was when Abeline would repeatedly say to the young girl in her charge, “You is Kind. You is smart. You is important.”  And then she would have the little girl repeat those words back.  This was Abeline’s way of building confidence in the child and encouraging her to believe in herself.  So how often do you actually say those or similar words to yourself?  As a leader, it is important that you possess strong self-awareness and confidence in your skills, knowledge, and ability. If you don’t believe in your self, why should anyone else believe in you.

Kevin Hall, author of the book Aspire: Discovering Your Purpose Through the Power of Words, enlightens us by showing us the magnificent power of words (tools we can use to shape our thoughts, beliefs and destinies) to help us create favorable occasion for ourselves and the entire humankind.   In his book, he discusses his belief statements “I am worthy. I am capable. I am deserving. I trust myself.” 

Over the years, we have watched leaders move into very visible positions throughout our country. They have made high-profile, tough decisions to move their organizations forward. In order to do this, they had to have confidence in not only the “what” they were doing, but the “why” they were doing it. Confidence is an absolute necessity for a leader to hit the ground running and score early wins in leading an organization.

So in order to develop your confidence, take time to work on yourself and focus on connecting with yourself at the deepest levels.  You must be able to believe at the deepest level that you are a capable leader. Trust yourself to make the right decisions.  A leader is that people want to follow you.  Until you show confidence as a person it will be near impossible for others to choose to follow you.  It will also be too easy for others, and you, to second guess tough decisions.