Confidence can be defined as the ability to meet life’s challenges head-on with and inspire others to do the same. This same definition can be applied to the type of leadership we all need, not just from our leaders, but from our team members as well. 

Fear is often caused by the thought or feeling that someone or something is dangerous and can cause us pain or loss. In today’s environment, we can all choose confidence over fear, and if you’re a leader, you can help others do the same. 

For the past few weeks, I have been encouraged by significant leaders in my field of organizational health and growth, including Ken Blanchard, Les McKeown, and Patrick Lencioni, who have made themselves available during Webinars. I realized that all of these world-class leaders held one thing in common— confidence.

While talking with our clients, I have discovered there are several practical ways any leader can inspire confidence without reinventing the wheel. Innovation right now is probably not the best thing to work on unless you are leading a global corporation with contracts to do just that. But for the majority of organizations, here are three practical steps you can take to inspire confidence in yourself and your team:

  1. Make sure your team stays on strategy. In this new environment, which is changing every day, your team must know what the “Big Goal” is for the next 30 days. To accomplish this understanding throughout your organization, you need to state what your strategy is and remind everyone of it continuously. And if we find ourselves in for another 30 days, create a new “Big Goal” that everyone can work on together.
  2. Help your team visualize their work. The key to designing a visual roadmap is to bring total transparency into your meetings and ensure everyone can talk about the issues that are important to them. When people know what the priority is for their work, they work with a much higher sense of assuredness —confidence— and feel much better about what they’re doing. This transparency also keeps everyone on task as a team, which is more challenging to do while working virtually.
  3. Over-communicate with your team. Let your team members talk about what is on their mind, even the negative things, and let some conflict develop to make your meetings learning experiences. Many people have never worked remotely for an extended period  and could quickly find it isolating and negative. Talking regularly throughout the week with your team as a group and individually can be incredibly uplifting to team members, particularly if they are encouraged to express their concerns. 

Eventually, we are going to come out of this Pandemic. We will find a solution to this situation. One encouraging thought is while we are all learning how to work remotely, these same insights and communication tools can be brought into our next more standard way of working. May you, your family, and co-workers stay safe and well throughout this time.