(Photograph courtesy of NASA Langley Research Center)
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Repeating the past in a changing world makes you irrelevant and insignificant. Employing old strategies in new situations tends toward failure.
Transition, turbulence, and change test leadership-confidence.
Danger and beauty:
The danger of confidence is quantity – too little paralyzes; too much and you’re an arrogant fool with a closed mind.
The beauty of confidence is lower stress and quiet boldness both in you and those around you.
True competence:
Confidence connects to competence through past performance. Competency during turbulence, however, is the ability to adapt – not repeat – in order to create the future.
Confident leaders:
- Prepare for uncertainty, challenge, and opportunity. They don’t have all the answers – they establish predeterminedprocesses and procedures for finding answers.Know your response to tough situations before they occur. What is your response to challenging questions, for example. Hint: Don’t give solutions immediately.
- Know confidence and certainty are different. Certainty focuses on outcomes and outcomes aren’t always certain. Confidence focuses on process and next steps. Hint: Your next step is usually too big if it traps you; take a smaller one.
- Remain calm; they aren’t frantic they’re focused. Hint: Ask hard questions; avoid accusations.
- Believe they can change things through others. Hint: Great teams build confidence.
- Keep curiosity alive. You don’t know now but believe you’ll find out. Hint: Keep asking hard questions.
- Embrace mistakes. Peter Mcintyre wisely said, “Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.” Hint: What are we learning? (Notice “learning” not “learned”)
- Move forward with imperfect knowledge. Reject perfectionism while pursuing excellence. Hint: Focus on the best available solution.
- Prepare cautiously – execute boldly. Hint: Don’t second guess.
- Display good posture. Hint: Stand tall.
- Express gratitude and give compliments. Hint: Focus on the best in others.
How do you face uncertainty?
What is the impact of too little or too much confidence?