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When it comes to confidence and self-esteem, it really doesn’t matter how talented your team is. If they have no self-belief, or lack confidence, they’ll naturally struggle to reach their full potential and it will forever be an obstacle standing in the way of them and success. Teams who lack confidence may struggle with other areas of effective team work too, like asking for help, taking the initiative, thinking creatively, or challenging themselves to try something new.
If you’re wondering how you can build confidence in your team, then we’ve put together a few suggestions to get you started. The benefit of trying a few of the tips below is that not only will your employees feel empowered and believe in themselves, they’ll also be more inclined to push boundaries, think outside the box and innovate. All of which are hugely positive qualities for a team to possess!
Promote A Growth Mindset
Mindset is key to building confidence. When a person has a ‘fixed mindset,’ they believe that their qualities, intelligence and creative ability are fixed traits, and therefore cannot be changed. In a fixed mindset, people may not be motivated to develop or improve, believing that this is not possible. On the other hand, a growth mindset equips people with the belief that they have the power to grow and change over time. Therefore, they’re more likely to push themselves to succeed.
As a leader, it’s possible to help team members develop a growth mindset and promote confidence. This can be achieved through delivering constructive feedback that focuses on next steps, encouraging the sharing of ideas to foster innovation, and pushing people outside of their comfort zones.
With a growth mindset, failures aren’t the end of the world. In fact, they’re an opportunity to evolve. And new challenges are to be relished and tackled with aplomb rather than feared. With a bit of work, fostering a culture that centres around a growth mindset may take a bit of time and effort, but the change in your team members has the potential to be transformative.
Take A Positive Stance
When a leader exudes confidence, even when the chips are down and results aren’t entirely as expected, the rest of the team feels confident too. Of course, you can’t gloss over the fact that things aren’t working when they aren’t. But if you approach poor performance with a positive mindset, this trickles down through the ranks too.
A leader who freaks out when the going gets tough only passes this panic on to their team. The result? A whole department filled with headless chickens and no clear plan. The leader who gets in front of the team, readjusts or reaffirms the strategy and demonstrates confidence in subordinates will be rewarded with trust and, most likely, improved performance.
Offer More Training Opportunities
If a team member feels as though they don’t have enough knowledge or experience to complete a job, their confidence will naturally suffer. Problems that grow from this will only serve to knock them down further and shake their ability to do the job.
Offering training opportunities and allocating time for research and development benefits teams in several ways. First, it demonstrates to employees that you are willing to invest in them and want to give them more opportunities. Second, it builds their skills and gives them the confidence they need to do the job – and do it well. Third, it upskills your workforce, giving you more opportunities to delegate tasks and show team members that you trust them and have confidence in their ability.
Delegate Tasks Little by Little
Delegation is a powerful tool for instilling confidence in your team. It also provides room for team members to grow while maintaining productivity. By delegating tasks little by little you can gradually build on the responsibility you give to them without overwhelming them from the off. It’s important for this to happen over a length of time though, as throwing someone into the deep end if they lack confidence may have the opposite effect!
Build on Failure
We all hate the word failure. But it’s an important part of success. In order to grow, we need to fail and learn from that failure. As a leader, if you foster an environment that makes your team scared of failure, they’ll never have the confidence to grow. Instead, they will stay in their comfort zones, doing the same things repeatedly, never volunteering themselves for anything outside of their remit.
When you let your team know that it’s OK to make mistakes, if you learn and grow from them, they’ll feel more confident in owning their roles and innovating. So, the next time something doesn’t quite go to plan, be mindful of your results. Take time to assess the situation and performance of your team and understand what support they need to move forwards positively.
Confidence Breeds Confidence
It’s important to remember that if you show confidence in your team, they will be confident in themselves too. This paired with training, opportunities for more responsibility, praise and constructive feedback will go great lengths in inspiring your team and giving them the confidence to perform to their full potential with your unconditional backing.
If you would like further support with growing confidence amongst your team, contact us today to find out more about our team building days out. All our activities are created in-house by our event technology and development team and we’re constantly coming up with new and exciting ideas.
