An organization is never more confident than its leader, which accentuates the importance for leaders to display unswerving confidence in themselves, their vision, their strategy, and their people. Leading with confidence involves important nuances like avoiding the opposite (leading from a place of fear) and learning how to handle criticism. It also involves knowing not only what traits to project but what behaviors to avoid.

In fact, super confident people seek opportunities to celebrate the success of others. And I've learned the more praise you give away, the more comes back to you.

1. They don't seek attention and praise.

Excuses are an attempt to dodge accountability and blame. Confident people embrace accountability and don't worry about being blamed. They own their mistakes and command respect accordingly. They don't hide behind circumstances or lack of resources to justify not accomplishing something.

2. They refuse to make excuses.

Defensiveness is just another form of blame-dodging--even worse than the above because it often involves not just avoiding blame but redirecting and projecting it onto someone else. Confident people are open-minded about their mistakes and what they could have done better, thus avoiding the need to redirect anything to anyone.

3. They aren't defensive.

Conflict brings, well, conflict, and the self-assured are sure-handed in dealing with tension. They even look forward to it, viewing it as a mechanism to quickly get past differences and disagreements to move toward resolution.

4. They don't avoid conflict.

Choosing not to decide is still a choice, a corrosive one. Indecision is often born from insecurity, a fear of making the wrong decision and looking bad. Highly confident people don't worry about who's right--they worry about what's right. And if they decide incorrectly, so be it. Onward. Upward. Live and learn.

5. They don't hide behind indecision.

In fact, highly confident leaders seek it out. They view it as a true gift; the fact that someone is investing the time to help them learn and grow is genuinely appreciated. They know they're far from perfect and embrace the journey of becoming a better version of themselves.

6. They're not downtrodden by feedback.

They focus on becoming better than they were yesterday and don't get sucked into comparing themselves with anyone else. They welcome competition when it presents itself, but view it as an opportunity to push themselves and improve, not as a chance to establish dominance.

7. They don't feel they're in competition with others.

Taking a stand by definition means you'll stand out, which isn't for everyone. But it is for the highly confident, who know that authenticity trumps approval. They want results, not reassurance. If their stand invites dissent, so be it and we're all better for it, say the self-assured.

8. They're not afraid to take a stand.

Highly confident leaders view adversity as what creates success, not what prevents success. The most confident leader I ever worked for felt she was failing if she didn't fail. She had enough belief in herself to know she was bigger than any mistake she made.

9. They don't shy from failure and setbacks.

The self-assured don't obsess over whether they're good enough. They know they're good. And that's enough. They don't feel the need to be perfect and beat themselves up when they fall short of perfection. They adopt an acceptance and recovery mindset when they don't succeed.

10. They don't pummel themselves with negative self-talk.

When negative people project their unhelpful vibe into the universe, it's often a cover up. They don't feel good about themselves or something in their life and so want to project that sentiment elsewhere. Confident people aren't having it, because they don't need to build themselves up by tearing other people or things down.

11. They don't spread negative energy.

Does anything smack more of insecurity than when someone feels compelled to make it all about themselves all the time?

12. They don't talk only about themselves.

They don't worry about covering their bases or asses. They focus on what matters and are happy to take criticism for de-prioritizing the rest.

13. They don't do the easy thing by doing everything.

They know that homebuilders need permission to act, but business builders don't. They're not disrespectful of authority. Rather, they're respectful yet autonomous. So tear down these behaviors to build up the self-confidence you exude.

14. They don't require permission to act.

Certain types of leaders, those who are certain of themselves, avoid these actions.



Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

communication

Communication

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Highly Confident People Avoid These 14 Behaviors

This starts with identifying your company’s competitive advantage. Ask yourself these five questions:1. What is the main value I provide to my clients that’s not a commodity?2. Where am I investing the most time? Could it be better utilized?3. Where am I making the most money? Is it the area with the most upside?4. What could I spend less time on that would multiply our money?5. What could I spend more time on that would multiply our money?

The answers can help you rethink your model for growth. For example, you might need to invest in technology, tools, or experiences that create a competitive advantage — which ultimately saves time — so you can make more money.

Now ask yourself: How can you stand out from your competitors in a way that either significantly increases the number of clients you can serve in a limited span of time, or allows you to charge more for your service?It doesn’t have to be an event. You can create content, do podcasts, automate services, or invent a better mousetrap. But with any company, and particularly with service-based businesses, you don’t want to be stuck in a comparison game. You want it to be hard for anyone to argue that they can do what you do.

When you focus less on how you beat the competition and more on how you maximize time — and prove you’re different than everyone else — the path to growth becomes much clearer.

It's about making your time more valuable.

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

problemsolving

Problem Solving

timemanagement

Time Management

business

Business

If You Have a Service Brand, Here's How to Grow Without Hiring More People

While organizing your calendar is something we all know that we should do, it’s usually a task that end-up brushing off. As a result, we end-up having days filled with overlapping meetings and to-do-lists that don’t get completed.In other words, keeping your calendar organized allows for having more smooth and productive daysBut, where do you start?

ake a couple of minutes every night to plan your daily schedule for the next day. This way you can review your meetings and appointments, determine which tasks should be top priorities, and actually put them into your calendar.It doesn’t sound like much, but it ensures that your most important chores and events are accounted for so that they won’t fall through the cracks, More importantly, it makes sure that your calendar remains organized and manageable.

1. Think before you act.

If you want to stay ahead of your calendar, then start your day bright and early. This way you can start get a jumpstart on your day since you’re accomplishing some of your most important tasks before anyone else is up.

2. Start your day bright and early.

Instead of multi-tasking, start devoting a block of time to a single activity. This way you’re giving that task your full attention and are able to complete it before moving-on to something else.For example, you could block-out nine a.m. to noon for work. During this block of time you do nothing else except work. If you have emails or calls to return, then block out a time for that task. Also, blocking out time for lunch will help you prevent yourself from scheduling anything during this time you need to recharge.

3. Break your day into blocks.

Sometimes conflicts arise — no matter how organized you are. That’s just life. The difference between remaining organized and living in chaos is by not addressing those conflicts immediately. So if you notice that you overlapped meetings when reviewing your calendar in the morning, ask the members of the second party if you can push the meeting back 30 –minutes.

4. Address conflicts immediately.

productivity

Productivity

Best Time Management Practices to Keep You Organized

If you’re serious about retaining the people on your team (as you should be), consider conducting “stay” interviews. These are discussions where you ask loyal employees key questions to understand how engaged they are. The information you gather can help you tackle common retention issues. Here are four questions to try:

No matter what the response is — positive or negative — don’t negate their experience or move too quickly to solving a problem. Just listen, thank them for being honest, and ask for more information before moving toward a solution.

What’s your frame of mind today?

Based on their response, explore what you can do to help them deepen those connections. Perhaps people from different departments can work on a company-wide event, a cross-division initiative, or take part in virtual discussion groups.

Who do you feel connected to at work? 

This question signals that you care about their development and want to help them achieve their aspirations.

What do you want to learn that will excite you and help you grow

To help them work better brainstorm with your colleague how you can be most helpful. Ensuring people can do their jobs well is just as important as praise and rewards.

What barriers can I remove for you?

If you’re serious about retaining the people on your team (as you should be), consider conducting “stay” interviews. These are discussions where you ask loyal employees key questions to understand how engaged they are.

Highly Confident People Avoid These 14 Behaviors

If You Have a Service Brand, Here's How to Grow Without Hiring More People

Best Time Management Practices to Keep You Organized

To Keep Your Best Employees, Ask Them These Questions

Abdelrahman Mahmoud