The Confidence Net™
Even when leaders become clear about where they want to take their teams, self-doubt and a lack of confidence can block the action necessary to achieve results. All leaders are subject to resisters and critics - some external and some internal.
Robin Crow, writing in Jump and the Net Will Appear (New World Library, 2002) claims that the obstacles that hold us back are almost always internal. The challenge for leaders is to manage these self-sabotaging "inner voices" so they do not get in the way of action and forward movement.
Just read what some of the world's biggest innovators needed to overcome to achieve their dreams.
"No one will buy a tape player that doesn't record."
Market researchers at Sony when chairman Akio Morita first proposed the Walkman.
"It's a huge risk, and it will never fly."
Aeronautical engineer's evaluation of Bill Lear's design for a jet.
"A global , twenty-four-hour news network will never work."
Network executives' response to Ted Turner's plans for CNN.
"There's no market for it. If there were, major airlines would already be offering it."
Advisors to Fred Smith, founder of FedEx.
As leaders chart new courses, self doubts often arise, including:
"You Won't Succeed"
"You'll Fall on Your Face"
"You'll Look Like a Fool"
"Who Do You Think You Are?"
We can manage our doubts by being more aware of negative self-talk, and getting good at recognizing it as distinct from our true intent. If unchecked, or unnoticed, these private conversations in our head earn more credibility than they warrant. Rosabeth Moss Kanter writes in Confidence: How Winning Streaks & Losing Streaks Begin and End (Crown Business, 2004) that "everything can look like a failure in the middle".
Safety nets are often viewed as insurance to help people through life's shocks and stresses, such as those caused by illness or losing one's job. The Confidence Net™ is a personal structure to mitigate the effect and lower the volume of the various "inner voices" all successful and innovative leaders invariably confront along the way to achieving greatness.
Building a confidence net is as simple as accumulating a portfolio of positive habits that, when performed consistently, feed your confidence, and provide you with the ability to remain focused on your future, despite the noise all around you. For more information on how you can build your own confidence net, contact us at info@theleadershipfit.com. | 
