Confidence Without Attitude

“We make decisions based on evidence and analysis, giving us the confidence to act with humility. We foster collaboration by building a foundation of empathy, inclusion, and trust”.

The second of Berkeley Haas’ Four Defining Leadership Principles: Confidence Without Attitude – provides a simple model of effective leadership for the modern age.

When we embrace Confidence Without Attitude, we are less likely to get caught up in needing to be right in order to feel or appear confident. Rather, with a willingness to be imperfect and vulnerable, an openness to new evidence, and a desire for greater understanding (of ourselves and our world) - our confidence can grow from a deeper and practically unshakable place.

Cultivating the Mindset

There is a difference between appearing confident and actually having confidence. It often comes down to possessing a combination of three key attributes:

• Self-awareness
• Self-assurance
• Humility

Self Awareness

Self-awareness involves acknowledging, and thoroughly understanding, one’s own strengths, weaknesses, abilities, limitations, and biases. Only through self-awareness are we able to address elements of our personalities, habits, skills, and knowledge that may require modification or improvement, providing us with the capacity to strengthen our weakest links.

Alternately, self-awareness allows us to recognize, appreciate, and leverage our strongest qualities, resulting in the further maximization of our potential. Those who lack self-awareness might fall victim to their own biases, long-held or incorrect assumptions, and potential blind-spots, resulting in diminished confidence and trust in oneself.

Access our Increasing Self-Awareness Tipsheet for helpful awareness exercises and tips.

Self-Assurance

Self-assurance is a deep trust in our ability to operate and even thrive in a given context and requires a sense of self-empowerment that comes from healthy self-esteem and adequate skills and competence. Leaders who exhibit healthy self-assurance exude a sense of calm and confidence that helps their teams stay focused during stressful situations and makes them better equipped to tackle challenges head-on.

Our Self- Assurance & Empowerment Worksheet may help uncover your keys to increased empowerment.

Humility 

Humility is an essential ingredient in effective leadership and a core characteristic of those who embrace the true spirit of Confidence Without Attitude. Far from reflecting a sense of weakness, genuine humility stems from unshakable security in one’s competence and unique power, and—in fact—allows us to recognize the value of other people’s contributions.

We collected some simple practices in our Cultivating Humility Tipsheet for anyone looking to cultivate a humbler approach to leadership.

Living the Principle

Having Confidence Without Attitude takes a certain trust in your ability to make good decisions. The following approach to decision-making can help flesh out invisible concerns and alleviate many of the uncertainties that arise when trying to decide on a course of action. If yours is an organizational issue, be sure to involve stakeholders and skilled contributors throughout the process.

Know what you want

The first step in being able to make good decisions is to recognize your goals and desired outcomes. What are you hoping to accomplish? Why is deciding on an answer or finding a solution important?

Define the problem

Craft a short statement that describes (in simple terms) the basic situation or problem – as you currently understand it. This can help you clarify what it is you are dealing with. What is the nature of the issue itself? Where is the root of the issue? Question your assumptions and make sure that you are addressing the cause and not just the symptoms.

List everything you need to know

Poor decision-making often stems from relying on incomplete or faulty information. Learn what you might be missing by taking time to identify your potential blind spots, keeping an open mind, and asking as many questions as you can up front.

Gather the information

Do your research to find answers to your questions and gather other data to help you better understand the situation and spark helpful insights. Be aware of the tendency for confirmation bias and remain open to all information during this stage.

Ask for help

Spend time reviewing the data through multiple lenses. Recognize the value that others’ perspectives and knowledge can add and don’t be afraid to reach out to key people along the way for input and guidance.

Brainstorm ideas and options

Refrain from settling on the first idea or answer that comes to mind. Unless your situation demands making a choice between two clear options, take some time to ideate and explore multiple ideas or avenues. It helps to withhold judgment and be divergent in your approach. Make a list of everything that comes to mind.

Reduce your options

Once you have an exhaustive list, it’s time to converge. Decide what criteria your ideal solution must meet. Is it important for your solution to be cost-effective, quick to implement, involve x, y, or z? Run your options through your set of criteria to determine which are still workable. Also be sure to understand the holistic impacts of your decision.

Analyze remaining options

Take some time to consider the remaining options and whittle it down to the top 2-3. Then employ various decision-making tools that make sense for your situation. Some of these might include creating a pros/cons list, performing a SWOT analysis, testing simple prototypes, checking in with your gut, and reconnecting to your goals.

Make a selection

When the time comes to decide, don’t procrastinate out of fear of making a mistake. Accept the responsibility you have and be firm in your choice.

Reflect and evaluate

After you have implemented your decision and have understood its impact, be sure to take an honest look at whether it has addressed the issue as intended. If not, you may want to revisit certain steps and make a new decision.

Final Note

Now, more than ever, we need to bridge divides and use our collective skills and competencies to solve our most pressing problems. This requires the self-awareness to know who we are and what we value, the self-assuredness to call upon existing skills and acquire new ones, and the humility to recognize that our voice and contributions are not the only ones of value.