Boost Your Confidence Boost Your Career by Christine Brown-Quinn

BOOST YOUR CONFIDENCE BOOST YOUR CAREER

by Christine Brown-Quinn

Do you hesitate to put yourself forward with that insightful question, new idea, or new initiative? Is it painful to talk to others about what you’re interested in and the value you add, as you’re not so sure it’s that special?

If you don’t believe you can do it, how do you convince others? Success starts with your own self-belief. We all have that inner critic, at the beginning, middle and end of our careers! (Sorry if this comes as a surprise or the bad news).  It’s part of our evolutionary brain designed to protect us from danger.  The trick is to acknowledge and then leverage the inner critic for that push to take action (albeit a scary one!), rather than let it sabotage us. 

As a student preparing to enter into the workforce, you may be thinking (as I did as a student!) that you want to be delivering ‘A’ quality work in your job, very similar to your approach in the academic environment. 

Here’s the thing - doing a great job is the start or foundation of a career, rather than the ‘be all end all’.  The workplace is much more complex and therefore there is no such thing as a one-dimensional meritocracy. It’s crucial to not only deliver ‘A’ quality work, but also to ensure that others know about that work. This benefits not only you, but also others – they then have a better idea of what you can contribute and how you might be able to help them. We often forget that we can’t read each other's' minds and what might be obvious to us, is not obvious to others.

In order to develop and shape a career, having the right mindset is key:  be willing to ‘put yourself out there’.  This has always been true, but now more than ever as every sector and industry is being disrupted and the ability to be open to change and ‘raise your hand’ to new challenges is as important as any technical competency.

I wish someone had told me back then what I know now. Had I known about this unwritten rule about confidence earlier, I could have secured those promotions, pay rises and new job opportunities much sooner in my career.  Having the confidence to take risks is relevant not just for the big decisions but also the many micro decisions and choices that you face as you build your future.  Be brave. It’s definitely worth it!