Management Matters

A lot of the things I talk about probably make you uncoverable. They made me uncomfortable once upon a time too.

As I have mentioned this several times, the success of your business is more dependent on your organisational and people management skills than most of us are willing to admit. 

To most of us, these skills make you feel uncomfortable because you are not confident in these areas.

The thing about confidence is it's all about the inner game - not the outer one.

It's developed from within.

It's about what we can control, rather than what we can't. It's about mindset.

Instead of accepting situations, we look to where we can improve and how we can respond proactively rather than reactively.

The single best way to grow your confidence is to grow your competence. Complaining doesn't grow anything. 

This means learning, reading, listening, observing, up-skilling, and training (being teachable and coachable helps heaps too).

As my own coach says, “You cannot get better at something by thinking about it. You have to do something about it.”

This means taking action. Walking, not talking:

• Learn how to do what you currently can't.
• Talking to those who have done what you want to.
• Continually up-skill with an open, growth mindset.
• Taking action rather than being left to be acted upon.
• Testing and experimenting (taking "little bets").
• Reading and researching knowledge gaps.
• Taking action will build your confidence because you are stepping towards becoming better, rather than sitting still.

Or you can opt for denial, thinking you know what you don't, using a fixed rather than growth mindset (dangerous to have, a bit like parachutes that don't open).

Those who are fearful of being exposed for what they don't know instead of embracing the situation as a constructive and positive challenge to become a better, always lose.

A lack of discipline does the same thing. Doing nothing gets nothing. 

Competence = Security Comes from Skills

Competence is all about know-how, ie. knowing how to do something and because of this, competence correlates with confidence. 

Having the right set of skills means you have the systems and strategies to take control of a situation.

Being armed with a set of skills means you have the assets and resources to tackle a specific problem.

Confidence is also about control which we humans crave because it's what has secured our survival as a species.

Having confidence through the right skill sets allows us to take the right steps knowing we're on the right path.

It makes us feel like we're taking control and improving our prospects, which in turn improves our outlook and sentiment.

Our confidence grows as a result and a better performance follows.

Competence Takes Time 

Competence can't be bought off the shelf and it can take years to craft (10,000 hours as social scientist Malcolm Gladwell suggests).

The fact is highly competent people are paid handsomely, incompetent people are paid much less.

The only way to craft true competence is to train until you become highly competent. This takes a commitment to life-long learning, skills and drills, and a sh** load of sacrifice. 

Surgeons take at least seven years. Same for commercial pilots, architects, and doctors. Highly competent professionals have to train. 

That's how the best keep getting better and make them the highly confident and competent professionals they are.

You can do the same.

If you're low in some areas of confidence, it's likely you're low in some areas of competence. The two are correlated.