This article comes from Entrepreneur.

4 Ways to Build Your Confidence Levels

In today’s dynamic and competitive world, it’s the confidence that enables us to showcase our strengths, what we are good at and what helps us stand out in a sea of individuals sharing the same passion.

In the context of leadership and management, confidence certainly goes hand in hand with success. Anyone who expresses leadership aspirations should start working on their confidence levels — in the end, it’s the fuel that drives our determination.

Let’s focus on confidence in leadership. Here’s why it is so important to establish and maintain this trait, plus four useful strategies that can help any leader do so successfully.

Is it even possible for a leader to be good at the job without confidence?

A leader is someone who is viewed as a role model. Essentially, this person embraces a whole lot of responsibilities — leaders are not supposed to just distribute the workload to their employees. In addition, they need to help the team stick together in turbulent times when the team spirit appears to be gone. Also, leaders are expected to know their employees — their strengths, weaknesses, aspirations and goals — so that they can inspire them daily and also support them whenever things get rough.

But if there’s one thing that turns a person into a role model besides experience, knowledge and expertise, it’s confidence. An individual could be the best professional in a specific business field, but without confidence, they wouldn’t be able to showcase all the skills and abilities that shape their expertise. Therefore, they wouldn’t be able to be in charge of people who constantly need support, guidance and care.

So how can a leader nurture self-confidence? Here are 4 useful strategies

1. Show that both the good and the bad examples are excellent teachers.

In leadership, people are also prone to making mistakes as well as showcasing splendid work. It’s rarely smooth sailing. However, being open, honest and wise in front of your team is definitely a sign of maturity and confidence. Use your accomplishments as examples and motivation. Then, use your mistakes as guidance and shared experiences that can teach your team a thing or two about getting up and moving on.

2. Being open to feedback, even if it’s negative, is a tremendous sign of self-confidence.

Leaders aren’t the only ones who are supposed to offer feedback. This process should go both ways. A confident manager is someone who constantly seeks feedback from their employees and accepts criticism as a focal point of their future development and professional growth.

3. Making sure words align with actions is essential.

A self-confident leader never goes against their words because they know what they’ve said matters. When a manager crosses out what they’ve said in terms of promises, plans, steps and vision, it simply means they diminish their own words.

4. Showing flexibility and adaptability is key.

In business, no one can guarantee things won’t change completely overnight. If a leader wants to showcase self-confidence, they need to be flexible and adaptable to change since this proves their professionalism is bigger than circumstances. Essentially, this is the ultimate lesson in terms of role modeling one can teach the employees.

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