When you don’t feel particularly confident at work, it can stop you from fully embracing the workplace culture, contributing your unique ideas and perspectives, and developing positive relationships with your coworkers. In short, a lack of confidence isn’t helpful to you or the company.
However, contrary to popular opinion, a lack of confidence can be fixed, all you need is the right tools! That’s why we’ve compiled a comprehensive guide to boosting your workplace confidence and preventing that pesky imposter syndrome from rearing its ugly head. All you need to do is sit back, relax, and keep reading!
What is Workplace Confidence?
Before delving into the ways you can boost your self-confidence, it’s important to cover what workplace confidence actually is.
While it’s closely connected to regular confidence, workplace confidence relates specifically to how you feel and act when you’re in a working environment. How much workplace confidence you currently have can be determined by how comfortable you are with speaking in meetings, presenting new ideas, socialising with coworkers and trying new ideas. Ideally, these actions should feel easy as pie, but if they still elicit anxiousness, we’re here to help!
Question: What Does Workplace Confidence Look Like?
Answer: Workplace confidence can look different on different people. However, someone who possesses a lot of workplace confidence will often express new ideas freely and without fear of judgement, spend time bonding with their coworkers rather than keeping to themselves, and feel comfortable telling others what processes are working well, and which ones can be improved.
Question: Confidence vs. Arrogance: What’s the Difference?
Confidence and arrogance are vastly different traits, but the line between them is surprisingly thin. Confidence relates to positive expressions of competency, whereas arrogance comes across as extremely unpleasant and is often driven by insecurity.
Those who are genuinely confident don’t put others down or see themselves as being better than their coworkers; they simply feel comfortable in their abilities and don’t shy away from challenges!
Question: Why is Workplace Confidence Important?
There are tonnes of benefits that come from working on your workplace confidence! For starters, it helps alleviate that nasty anxious feeling that some of us experience when we have to talk in meetings, present new ideas, or bring up a work problem.
What’s more, employees with more workplace confidence are more likely to excel and progress in their roles, take on new challenges, experience greater job satisfaction and build stronger relationship with their colleagues!
Why You Might Not Feel Confident at Work
Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to why people feel less than confident in the workplace, which means there’s no single solution. Building up your confidence is a process that includes a fair bit of trial and error, but the best way to get started is by identifying what’s causing your nerves.
Some common reasons why you might be lacking confidence at work are that:
#1 You Might Lack Experience
When it’s your first time in a new role, the learning curve can be incredibly steep. However, try not to get disheartened; it’s completely normal to feel out of your depth for the first few weeks (and sometimes even the first couple of months) when you start a new job. All you need to do is keep learning, keep working hard, and keep asking questions. Workplace confidence will come with time, we promise!
#2 You Might Work in an Unsupportive Environment
If you’ve been with your company for a while and still feel nervous to talk in meetings, present new ideas, or bond with your coworkers, there’s a chance you could be working in an unsupportive environment. Key indicators that this might be the case include coworkers who use negative language, a workplace that normalises office gossip, or superiors who talk down to newer staff. To see what you should do when your workplace is toxic, check out our blog on what makes a good work culture!
#3 You Might be Naturally Introverted
Being naturally introverted is a super common reason for people to feel a lack of confidence in the workplace. However, being an introvert doesn’t mean that you can’t improve your self-confidence! Take a few tips from our blog on networking for introverts and pay close attention to our tips for boosting your workplace confidence!
#4 You Might Suffer from Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome might not be an official diagnosis, but dealing with it is still pretty tough. To learn more about imposter syndrome and how to overcome it, keep reading (believe it or not, we can help)!
Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome can feel pretty debilitating, and unfortunately, it’s more common than you might think. People who suffer from imposter syndrome believe that they’re undeserving of their achievements (so it’s pretty common for people who don’t have all the qualifications for their new job). While it can’t be found in an official healthcare handbook, it can really impact workplace confidence, so it’s important to take it seriously!
How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome
You might need to try a few different methods (and stay consistent) to stop imposter syndrome from resurfacing, but these are our top tips for feeling confident in yourself and at the workplace.
- Reflect on your core achievements
- Avoid comparing yourself to others
- Reward yourself when you’re excelling
Essentially, to boost your workplace confidence, all you need to do is keep reminding yourself of how great you are!
Tips for Boosting Your Workplace Confidence
- Research the job responsibilities that you’re new to
- Ask for help when you need it
- Focus on your strengths
- Form positive relationships with coworkers
- Practice self-acceptance
- Use confident language
- Write down your achievements (and refer back to them when you need to)
- Be kind to yourself
- Don’t rush your career progression
- Learn as much as you can
Go Out and be Your Super-Confident Self!
Now that you’re well on your way to mastering the art of workplace confidence, it’s time to take your work skills to the next level! Head over to our article on work habits you’ll want to adopt to perfect your work presence and take your career to the next level!
