Thoughts – 2008

A New Confidence - Listen to the Thought Pod

“You must replace judgment with empathy, and lectures with questions. If you do so, you gain influence. The instant you stop trying to impose your agenda on others, you eliminate the fight for control.”  from Influencer (McGraw-Hill 2008)

Your dictionary of choice will refer to confidence as a belief in your own abilities. If that is where we leave it, we may find ourselves at arrogant, self-sufficiency.

Stalling at the level of a belief in one's own abilities can rob one of the joy of leading. We steal away our own joy when we make the interactions of leading all about ourselves. That is the old confidence. It is ineffective in the 21st Century. Followers will force honesty and authenticity.

A belief in your own abilities is a result of conscious application from the foundation of who you are. The true 21st Century leader is modeling for us a new confidence - a presence that is both selfless and powerful. The new confidence is powerful not because it focuses on others. It is powerful because of why it focuses on others. A leader, in the new confidence, is able to effectively focus on others because of the assurance this improvisational leader has in his/her foundational authenticity.

If our minds are obsessively operating in the future, we will proportionally sabotage it. The present leader realizes this and behaves accordingly.

My work is about building confidence in the leader of today. Confidence is an outcome - a result of a present moment focus. Today's leader is focused on today ... envisions tomorrow, and from that vision knows what actions must look like in the present.

Focusing her/his leadership in the present, the 21st Century leader ensures that we put our attention to the right priorities - thus building fulfillment in our present work and assuring the rewards of the future.