- The truth is, as unorthodox as this sounds,
under confidence can have some real benefits.
Today I'm gonna tell you exactly how to embrace
the good sides about being under confident,
because, between you and me,
under confidence is actually a bit of a superpower,
(laughing)
and astonishingly, could benefit your career
more than you ever thought possible.
So stay till the end until you might hear
the biggest joke between me and HR
when it comes to talking about confidence.
So first, (twinkling) subscribe to our channel
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I'm Dr. Suzanne Doyle-Morris, founder of inclusiq
and I have spent the last 15 years as a speaker
to corporates, an executive coach, also an author.
And the tips I'm gonna share with you today,
they're all based on the experiences of my clients,
plus the nearly 40 senior leaders
from academia to banking, and IT to pharmaceuticals,
who I interviewed for my third book, "The Con Job."
The truth is, a lack of confidence at work,
well it won't stop your efforts at getting better.
It actually makes them more likely.
So let's start with the obvious.
The under confident are actually often your hardest workers
because they don't assume they have all the right answers.
So that means under confidence can be a secret weapon
against those already so sure of themselves
that they're not likely to make mistakes.
Because the truth is they make as many mistakes,
even if they're confident.
So the first way that that benefits is it means
that you're more likely to see potential problems.
With less showy confidence, you're approachable,
but also far likelier to think through alternative options
and explore different possibilities
to any problems you might face.
So this came out when I was interviewing Derek Watson,
who is one of the most senior people
at the University of St. Andrews,
effectively the COO if you like.
Now when I spoke with him for "The Con Job,"
he made a great point about how he actively
seeks advice from the more junior people
when he doesn't understand something.
So let's be clear.
These are the people who don't
come across as all ultra confident,
but they're the people he's gonna advocate for
if they give him good advice, which is a big win.
(laughing)
He explained to me, "You know what, they're the ones
"I can approach when I need detail on something
"I don't quite understand."
He said to me, "These people,
"while often on the lowest rungs are like gold dust to me
"'cause they know their stuff,
"so they bloom when I ask their opinion."
He acknowledged, "You know, it can be intimidating
"as what I'm asking may be as they tell me,
"above their pay grade."
If you're the type of person that Derek is talking about,
try to find time with senior people
to tell them about trends and new things you're noticing
because leaders like Derek are so far from the detail,
that it can be refreshing to hear from someone
who has their ear more closely to the ground.
And if you aren't sure how something's gonna go down,
well then just ask their opinion
about something you noticed and how they'd handle it
if they were in your shoes.
Taking this approach means you could become someone
that others actively seek out
when they wanna know the real deal on something.
And that, let's be honest, that's a great position to be in
and a way that under confidence
can totally build your career.
So the second way under confidence can benefit you
is by turning you into a great listener.
So if you can master the art of truly listening,
now that is not just waiting for the other person's lips
to finally stop so that you can chime in
with your own witty anecdote,
well, you're gonna go pretty far.
So for Barbara Ann King, who I also interviewed,
that gift of listening enabled her to set up
a really successful team within a major UK bank
when she was working as a private banker.
It was a bit of intrapreneurship as we'd call it.
So, as an MD within Private Banking at Barclays at the time,
listening to her clients was how King knew
eventually to set up the Female Client Group.
It's a completely dedicated team.
She noticed an increasing number of their private clients
were starting to say, "How come I never get to speak
"to a woman about any of my investments?"
Now King was smart enough to know
that by the time clients are asking questions
or even complaining, we've missed a trick.
(laughing)
However, listening to how clients talk
is not something she thinks many industries do
particularly well.
She focuses on one of the most useful,
but least exciting ways to describe a competent team member.
In our interview she said,
"You know, when you talk to clients,
"they will tell you that they want
"a safe pair of hands managing their money."
And that makes complete sense to me
because it's their money we're talkin' about.
(laughing)
They will quickly see through a presentation that wows
if it can't deliver.
It was those listening skills that made King
set up the Female Client Group team.
And she got buy-in from the CEO to create the team
that went on to perform 300% better
on new client acquisition than other divisions
within the same business.
Pretty impressive stuff and a move that will set her career
apart for within the industry, even a decade later.
So this tip is to get better at simply asking questions,
then listening without interrupting
or assuming that you know where the conversation's headed.
So if you've seen these benefits in your own career,
or maybe it's someone who you admire,
give me a thumbs up (clicking) or tell me the industry
that you're in, in the comment section below.
Because comments can help other people
who are thinking that maybe they're un-confident,
and they think of it as a struggle rather than the win
that it actually can be 'cause it helps them know
that this video is useful.
The third way under confidence can benefit your career
is that it makes you more likely to seek out
continuous self-improvement and show greater empathy.
And here's that longstanding HR joke
that I often get from the people who hire me.
And that's that the type of people who are
the most likely to benefit for any kind
of executive coaching or softskills training
are often the least likely to seek it out,
even when it could be great for them.
'Cause remember, the confident people
don't think that they need to improve.
Instead, by seeking out ways
you can grow your competency level,
you'll be illustrating to others that you know
that no one's perfect and that we can all improve
and get better at it simply by doing
additional training, or in more learning.
And that's the kind of people that actually,
most employers would be wise to promote,
the ones who always wanna get better.
So that's how you can make the most of your under confidence
and turn it into some real wins for yourself
and your colleagues, particular senior people
like that ones I mentioned here when they start to realize
how great you are at what you're doing.
So if you wanna develop your career faster,
then this third book, "The Con Job," was written for you
because we are in a society where we rate competence
so highly that competent people sometimes are overlooked
and fall behind their overconfident,
but often less-skilled colleagues.
(laughing)
If this sounds familiar, then click the link below
to get more information on the book.
And you can also follow all of the activity on the book
by looking at #Morecompetence on both Twitter and Instagram.
Please share it with your friends and colleagues too
'cause you, I gotta be honest,
probably are not the only one who feels this way.
And subscribe (twinkling) to my channel
so that you're the first, so you see the rest of the videos
as they are released because if you've ever been told
that you just need a bit more confidence,
well give this video a like
and share on your own social channels
because you'd be surprised who else it might help.
And don't forget to check out our other videos
on the competence versus confidence playlist
because there's a lot more on how to make
under confidence work to your advantage.