7 TIPS TO LEADING WITH CONFIDENCE: COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR LEADERS

Do you feel like you are struggling be a confident leader? Leadership is not for the faint of heart, and it can be difficult to know how to build confidence when you find yourself in a leadership role. If the phrase "fake it til you make it" comes to mind, you are not alone. Leading others is not something that comes naturally to everyone, but you will have a much easier time leading with the right tools in your belt. Read on to learn about some easy tricks for building your leadership confidence.

1. Get familiar with what it feels like when you ARE confident so that you can mimic those feelings at any time - to do this, pick something you are really good at, anything at all, and talk to a friend about it. That feeling you get as you tell your friend all about XYZ that you are skilled in, THAT is confidence. Now you know what it feels like, and you can start to mimic those feelings in other situations.
2. Focus on what you do well and build from there. Leadership is a journey, not a destination! If you are good at reading people, use that to gauge when they might be having an off day. If you are good at teaching a skill, share that skill to help everyone get better. The flipside of this one is to also focus on the things you don't do well and seek out those that do. This will build their confidence and show that you are continually seeking self-improvement. (So important for leaders...)
3. Think of your most successful leader. What makes them so good? How can you emulate that in yourself? List some qualities you find important in a leader and work to improve those traits in yourself.
4. Practice makes perfect, and permanent. The more time you put into practicing your communication skills, the better they will get. They will also become more natural, and you will build a higher level of ability, which will lead to greater confidence. You might feel like a dummy practicing what you need to say before making a phone call or addressing a group, but if you say your words out loud at least once prior, you know you CAN say them and then you just have to do it again!
5. Leadership is about perception as well as reality. Be conscious of how your words and actions are being interpreted by those around you. Try to be mindful of this throughout the day so that others will have the best possible impression of you. (In other words, be tactful always. This topic is so important, it gets its own blog post next week...)
6. Practice active listening skills - Active listening is about paying attention to what others say and understanding what they mean by it, rather than just waiting for your turn to speak or even interrupting with an opinion or comment. Listen to understand, not to respond.
7. Know your audience - I have talked about this before and it applies to leaders as much as business owners - you MUST know your audience. This is vital to your success as a leader. Get to know your people, know their level of understanding of the jobs they do, know when to dig in with them and when to pull back.

It can be difficult to communicate effectively when you are in a leadership role. Leadership requires confidence but building up that confidence can make it more challenging. Great leaders know how to work through these challenges by using strategies like those listed above. Leadership is all about communication, so use these tips to help you on your way to becoming a great leader!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ciao for now!