Unconfident? It might be your greatest gift towards competence #2
I rarely repost or update past writing, but gave myself permission to do so today following some recent conversations with some highly competent people, who also “competently” lack confidence in themselves. It also follows some recent reflections I’ve had about a guy called Ray Hodge.
In recent weeks, I’ve been questioning the value of my work. I noticed that while it makes me feel momentarily “happy” when I receive positive feedback from clients, this doesn’t automatically boost my confidence. Often I’m more aware of questioning myself about what I could have done better, even if the work was a resounding success.
So, I decided to review all my completed projects from the last two and a half years. After entering them into Excel, filtering and sorting, one statistic blew me away…
80% of my work is repeat business.
In my work, you only get repeat business if you consistently deliver outcomes for clients. I wondered if the effectiveness of my work partially stems from my constant sense of unease or unconfidence around my current skills and knowledge. This sense of unease certainly drives me to read daily across a wide range of topics, digging deep into evidence based research, and seek learning opportunities from all of the great thinkers and leaders who surround me daily.
The post below was the reminder I needed: my lack of confidence is perhaps my greatest gift in my consulting and coaching work. I hope it inspires you as it did me.
Ray
Unconfident? It might be your greatest gift towards competence
Lack of confidence is often seen as a detriment or disability that impairs effectiveness. We may feel on the outer, as if we don’t make the grade.
But on occasion, could a lack of confidence increase competence?
A hospital study examining the leadership effectiveness of nurses who were rotated into the most senior role, regardless of their self-perceived ability or confidence found that those who were more hesitant demonstrated more effective leadership partly because “they were more likely to seek out second opinions from colleagues.”1
When we are one hundred percent confident, it’s easy to close our minds to learning anything new. We know what we’re doing; and, assured of our abilities, get on and execute the relevant tasks. That doesn’t mean the results will be one hundred percent. A mismatch between confidence and task requirements could produce a situation where completed work is riddled with errors and negative consequences.
Someone less self-assured may be more likely to read, learn and ask clarifying questions. They may try different approaches and use others as sounding boards. Such lack of confidence strengthens their competence.
So next time you are feeling a little unsure, or one of your team appears a tad uncertain and hesitant, remember you can be confident that your lack of self-belief might actually create greater competence.
Ray
PS. Many readers have reached out from these posts so if you could do with some assistance, I would love to help. You can check me out further at www.rayhodge.com.au, reply to this email or call me on +61 403 341 105.
A Ray rave…
Great companies have great staff. Great staff are the outcome of effective leadership. Ray Hodge can help you build a great company. As an experienced consultant/coach, Ray is not only well versed in the theory of effective leadership, but has a well developed innate ability, as well as a driving passion, to help leaders understand and develop staff holistically. Working with Ray will help you achieve success personally and corporately. COLIN NOYES - COACHNET SOUTH PACIFIC
+61 403 341 105; ray@rayhodge.com.au; www.rayhodge.com.au
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*Photo by Mikhail Nilov
Think Again. The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know. Adam Grant. p 52.
Insightful.
Russ