Confidence: Pass It On

“Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.”

- Samuel Johnson

Our culture and language is full of sayings about self-confidence, quotations from the Dalai Lama to Samuel Johnson to Michael Jordan to Kim Kardashian to Lucille Ball spur us on to believe in ourselves.  Promising us that our lives will be better if we are self-confident.

So how does that play out in the workplace?  Employees have to be proficient in the tasks and responsibilities to which they are assigned in order to achieve confidence, right?

Actually no. In a 1989 study by Wood and Bandura published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, researcherstold one group of participants that decision-making was a learned skill and the more practice one had in decision-making, the more proficient one became.  The other group of participants was told decision-making was a function of their basic intellectual abilities, their ability to make decisions was innately tied to their underlying cognitive functioning.  The study simulated an organizational structure in which  both groups of participants were asked to conduct a variety of tasks which required decision-making.  The group who believed that decision-making was a learned skill that improved with practice performed better overall, actually improving over time – after all, they had been told they would improve with practice.  The group that was led to believe their decision-making ability was predetermined actually deteriorated in setting goals for themselves and in overall performance.

What does this mean for leaders?  Study after study has replicated the same basic fact: an employee’s level of self-confidence is a stronger predictor of job performance than the employee’s actual level of skill or training. The goal for leaders is to communicate your confidence in their ability to get the job done, you believe in their ability to be successful regardless of the challenges which will be encountered.  It’s important as leaders to be there to support and mentor along the way while consistently reinforcing your confidence in their ability to complete the responsibility.

No wonder there is an entire market for posters, post-its, coffee mugs, t-shirts and other knick-knacks with those sayings about self-confidence . . . people thrive when they are self-confident.  Confidence:  Pass It On.