Building Confidence as a Lever for Success in Industry

Self-confidence allows us to have a positive and realistic outlook on our surroundings and ourselves. In an industrial setting, self-confidence will play a key role in how we communicate, how we behave under uncertain circumstances, how we make decisions, and even in how we fail. It’s an important skill for success and the good news is that even if it’s not our strongest skill, confidence is learnable.

Communication

Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look at the world straight in the face. - Helen Keller

Self-perception has a huge influence on how others perceive you. Perception creates our reality; therefore, the more self-confidence you have the more likely it is you’ll succeed. How you view the world can manifest in many ways—in your behaviors, your body language, the way you speak, what you say, the way you look at others, and what you do. Ask for feedback often from your boss, your colleagues, or your friends. Speak up. Let people know that you’ve got opinions, that you can think on your feet, and that you can be a leader. It’s easier to be convinced by someone who speaks clearly, who answers questions with certainty, and who readily admits when he or she does not know something. Look people in their eyes. A person can easily assess another person’s self-confidence by engaging in eye contact. The eyes play a big role in making relationships, portraying sincerity, and building careers. In interviews, for example, the first impression plays one of the most important roles in the final selection. Making eye contact with the interviewer will make him or her see one’s seriousness in getting the job. The same applies when we deliver a speech or presentation—if we look at the audience, it helps with getting their attention; they will feel noticed and it will make them feel that the presentation is delivered at a personal level, which will keep them engaged.

Risk-Taking, Decision-Making, and Leadership

Dr. Patricia Berger Approach new experiences as opportunities to learn rather than occasions to win or lose. This will open you up for new possibilities and can increase your sense of self-acceptance. Go the extra mile to achieve things. While you might not have all the knowledge, take informed risks, stretch yourself, and try hard without being overconfident. When possible, prepare yourself. It’s hard to be confident in yourself if you don’t think you’ll do well at something.

Talk to people, ask for advice from someone who is already confident in the area of expertise you seek to build, it could be a mentor or a coach, or even someone you don’t know but that you can follow and/or observe. If you need something, ask for it. People usually are helpful by nature since they too have been helped, or because they might need help in the future. Research shows that social support has a direct effect on self-confidence. Given the fast-moving, volatile, and uncertain nature of today’s reality, we may not or will not be able to become experts in our areas of influence the same way as when we’re doing our PhD. Thus, we need to learn to live with less-than-perfect knowledge, adjust our goals, and move on.

Because they trust their own abilities, self-confident people are willing to take risks even if that means that others might disapprove of their decisions. They don’t feel they have to conform in order to be accepted and have a can-do attitude that inspires confidence in others, their audience, their peers, their bosses, their customers, and their friends. “Can-Do” is one of the common characteristics of great leaders, and it helps them to take risks in order to take others to new levels of success.

Learning from Failure

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. - Robert F. Kennedy

As we take risks or try something new, we need to accept that failure happens sometimes and to be thankful for the opportunity to learn something new. Think about an experiment. When you’re planning for it, state upfront what you believe the expected results will be. Understanding what caused failure generates learning and new knowledge, which in turns builds self-confidence and the ability for further risk taking. That is powerful. Some even argue that failure is essential to successful technological advancements, innovation, and successful products (e.g.: Post-it® Notes, Ivory® Soap, and many more. See also: Mistakes That Worked by Charlotte Foltz Jones, John O'Brien [Illustrator] / Paperback - 48 pages [1994] / Doubleday).

Building Confidence a Step at a Time

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation. - Arthur Ashe

Self-confidence is a skill that can be learned and built on. You can achieve self-confidence if you focus and take a number of small but steady steps to prepare yourself. Make yourself known, be reliable, focus on solutions, and become visible to people who have an influence in your career. Think positively by looking at what you’ve already achieved such as a degree, a journal article, a patent, and so on. Tell others about it, which will help you gain confidence and be recognized as a leader. Set small goals initially using the SMART method (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound); achieve these goals, celebrate, and stretch yourself by setting new and bigger goals and commitments. Build the basic knowledge you need to succeed and accept the reality that it’s never going to be perfect. Practice the above and start all over again with a new challenge. With time you’ll realize your own potential—you’ll be self-confident in your abilities and closer to success!

Author

Dr. Patricia Berger received her PhD in inorganic chemistry from the University of New Mexico. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto, Dr. Berger accepted employment at the department of chemistry of Southern Oregon University. In 1998, she moved to Procter & Gamble, where she held different assignments in R&D including laundry formula design, dishwashing technology development, analytical R&D, and managing the fabric care modeling program. Currently she manages an upstream materials development group in the baby care unit and leads the PhD Hispanic/Latino recruiting.

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Dr. Particia Berger has helped Procter & Gamble become a committed SACNAS partner. Now, P&G is pioneering indusry inclusion withitn the organization.

Related Resources

View full edition of the Summer/Fall 2011 SACNAS News