Make Confidence a Part of Your Skill Set

Ask any woman about gender equality and see what you get. The majority of women will immediately begin to talk about the fact that there is a huge gap in gender equality that needs to be filled. Equal pay for equal work. We all have heard it. We’ve all said it. But have you ever heard the saying “put your money where your mouth is?” In this situation is it more like “put your actions where your mouth is.”

We can talk about how things are “not fair” in the workplace or even if you are an entrepreneur but the truth of the matter is that woman do not show up, do not represent themselves, and do not instill confidence in their higher-ups in the same way that men do.

Here are three main habits that most women have that we need to break away from TODAY! Do you identify with any or all of these? It is time, girlfriend. It’s not time to start being a kick-ass chick in business because you already are. It’s about being confident and letting others know that you are bad-ass and a force to be reckoned with.

Perfection: Women feel that their thoughts/ideas/plans/actions need to be as close to perfect as possible before moving forward. If that were true than every single idea in the world would launch into a successful product/service/business. Experimenting is what it’s all about. Sharing half-baked ideas with others and collaborating until something awesome comes of it.

Hesitation: When asked to take on a project outside of their comfort zone, men will generally say, “Hell, yeah! I’ll give it a shot.” Women will review their skill set, see if they are a good match, calculate if they can do the job successfully, and then usually shy away from it if they feel their skill set does not match 100% of what is required to do the job. Here is a clue. You don’t need 100% of the skills to do the job. You need the confidence to do the job. You will bring some expertise to the task and other skills you will learn along the way. Having the confidence to give it a shot puts you way ahead of those who are still waiting to be perfect.

Overthinking: Stop it! Not every single decision or action needs to be thought through until there is nothing left to think about. Take a risk. If you continue to sit back and play the “what-if” game with yourself you will never move forward. What if it doesn’t work? What if I’m not the right person for the job? A bigger question should be “SO WHAT?” So what if it doesn’t work out exactly like you had hoped. Things were learned along the way and progress was still made. To quote Thomas Edison:

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

That is the sign of a kick-ass leader. Not being afraid to try. Taking what doesn’t work and tweaking it over and over again until it does. Being strong. Letting yourself be seen as an inspiration to those around you. Making sure that confidence is a part of your skill set. Being sure of yourself instills a peace in those you work for and work with.

So today is the day!  It’s your day. Go out and show the world that you’re here and you’ve brought you’re “A” game.

~xoxo Loren