Confident Me - Continued Practice

An engineer will take their design and test it. Test it under different conditions to see if it can withstand the things thrown at it and still remain secure and confident. Scientists will take a theory and test it. Put it under the microscope and examine can it stand the test.

Both engineers and scientists know that practice makes perfect. If their theory or idea does not withstand the test then it was not suitable to be used.

This blog is the last in this series, where we are exploring what brings confidence or self-efficacy in us to hold conversations and particularly when you are in an interview situation. We have been exploring 4 steps that give us confidence as a leader and confidence in any interaction, including interviews!

• Confident purpose

• Confirmed values

• Clear communication

• Continued practice

Practice makes perfect

“Practice makes perfect.” It’s an age-old phrase, that probably brings back memories of your childhood of a teacher or parent encouraging you to try again to get it right or make it better. At the time it may have been annoying, but there is some truth in it. Physical repetitions can aid ‘muscle memory’ enabling us to manage the physical activity with more ease. Mental repetitions enable us to embed thinking in our memory. The more we practice holding a conversation and sharing ideas, the more confident we become of the practicalities. The more we hold conversations that are challenging, the more we can realise that we are capable of listening and engaging and challenging ourselves.

Review & Refine

More important than remembering how to do things, practice enables us to review and refine and improve. Just like the engineer and scientist, it allows us to refine our thinking.

The more we hold conversations with people, the more we can see what works with people.

We can see how listening first and repeating back the key points can check and aid understanding.

We can see the difference what we start our sentence with can make.

We can see how people respond to our ideas and what the tension points might be.

We can see where more clarity might be needed.

This review enables us to develop wisdom. Practice without the review and refine, can just become a repeat of the errors that we make. That trades wisdom for foolishness.

So, how is your practice, review and refine going? Sometimes it can be useful to gain the insight of others. To invite them into the practice and ask for their feedback. Insight of others can illuminate in areas that we can’t see into. This may be a trusted colleague. Inviting a coach into your reflection also has great wisdom as their questions can deepen understanding fuelling confidence.

Can we help you?

Would you like to feel more confident in conversations, or maybe that big interview? We hope this blog has been helpful and if you would like some more targeted support to grow in confidence, then do get in contact with us. We can organise one-to-one coaching to help with techniques. Give us a call on 01449 710438or email colin@everydayleader.co.uk if you would like us to help you explore this and empower you.

Everyday Leader is here to empower, inspire and equip you. If we can help you find a way forward, through coaching, training or consultancy, do let us know. Contact us now: colin@everydayleader.co.uk