None of us are confident in all areas of life and work, but confidence can be developed. Through coaching, we can give others a seed of self-confidence that through experience, action and knowledge, can flourish.

Coaching for Confidence – Four ways to grow confidence in others

None of us are confident in all areas of life and work, but confidence can be developed. Through coaching, we can give others a seed of self-confidence that through experience, action and knowledge, can flourish.

Here are 5 ways that you can start to develop confidence in others:

  1. Stop and Reflect Coaching creates a safe and uninterrupted space to stop and reflect. Life in school is so busy that those we coach are often so keen to move forward onto the next thing, that they can miss out on reviewing their past successes and gaining the confidence boost that provides.

Ask them to think of why they were employed for their last role. What qualities, attributes and skills the school saw in them that they thought would be a valuable addition? Remind them that perception is reality, if others recognised qualities in them, it must be true.

  1. Take an Experimental Attitude The action planning aspect of coaching, where someone agrees what they will do between sessions is fertile ground for experimentation. The only way they will know if they can do something is to try. Guide them to craft experiments outside of their usual area of expertise that they can learn from. The key is that they are not wedded to a successful outcome, instead they are committed to learning from it.

Encourage them to volunteer to do something outside of their comfort zone.

  1. Look Confident until they become it– They say we eat with our eyes and I think we look for signs of confidence with our eyes also. How someone looks, uses their voice and uses their language, all matter. This is not more important than their competence, of course, but it helps.

Encourage them to practice standing tall, speaking slowly, clearly, and not fidgeting. Observe those who exude confidence and see what they can learn from their body language.

  1. Self development– Knowledge is power and the more informed you are, the better decision you can make. We all feel less confident when we don’t have all the facts or the know-how.

Help them to brainstorm courses, industry publications, networking events or mentors to help them improve their knowledge in a particular area.

Confidence comes after the act, not before, so they must build and take action!