One of the challenges of the work environment is finding your niche — the area in which you excel and feel capable. And once you pinpoint it, it’s tempting to stay there. But remaining in that space doesn’t offer opportunities to grow outside your comfort zone.
It’s excellent if you’re happy where you are in your professional journey. Should you want to make a change, though, you’ll need to put yourself out there, and that can feel intimidating. There are many reasons you may be holding back, but a significant contributing factor is likely that you don’t feel confident at work.
Sticking to familiar territory won’t drive change, nor will it give you the confidence boost necessary to take on new challenges. So the first task on your path to professional development? Addressing your lack of confidence.
Increasing your self-confidence isn’t as simple as repeating positive affirmations and shifting your body language to seem more assertive. It’s about challenging insecurities, confronting moments of self-doubt, and silencing negative self-talk. But once you overcome these behaviors and habits, you can begin to grow into your potential and reinvigorate your career path.
Why do we feel shy in the workplace?
Shyness combines feelings of awkwardness, anxiety, and stress caused by social interactions, usually with unfamiliar people.
People experience varying degrees of shyness. For some, it’s a passing case of sweaty palms and stomach butterflies — for others, the feelings linger and build until they’re overwhelming.
Feeling shy is a natural response to new situations. And for some, past experiences exacerbate social anxiety. Being bullied in high school might make it harder to draw attention to yourself, while a negative public speaking experience could mean you’re uncomfortable voicing ideas in team meetings.
Most likely, your shyness has roots in childhood. Studies show that kids whose parents are shy or have anxiety disorders tend to exhibit the same temperament. Other contributing factors include genetics (20% of people are predisposed to shyness), socioeconomic status, and body image.
You may not recognize what’s holding you back in a professional environment as shyness — but this lack of confidence could be the root of your stalled momentum. A lack of workplace confidence can stem from the following scenarios:
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You’re not as experienced as your peers
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You just started a new job and haven’t had the chance to get to know your colleagues
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Your new teammates are intimidating and you feel nervous about sharing your ideas
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You have difficulty silencing your inner critic and tend to ruminate instead of practicing self-compassion
If you recognize yourself in any of these circumstances, pause to ask: “Am I feeling unconfident at work?”
Why is self-confidence important in the workplace?
There are few better places to find challenges and learning opportunities than your workplace. Building confidence equips you to rise to any occasion and take advantage of moments of growth. Here’s how:
Performance
Studies show that, in work environments where performance matters, confidence plays a large role in your success. Imagine facing down a tight timeline: when you feel confident in your abilities, you can jump in to deliver high-caliber work by the deadline. Without it, you might succumb to the pressure, causing delays and potentially missing your targets.
Self-assurance
Confident people aren’t afraid of challenges thanks to their grounded belief in their abilities. Developing self-assurance means you can approach new projects with excitement instead of apprehension. Knowing your worth also allows you to recognize your colleagues’ talents, giving them room to shine without feeling insecure.
Growth potential
Confidence can motivate you to learn new skills by seeking professional and personal growth opportunities. You won’t hesitate to try something new due to insecurity or the comfort of familiarity.
Resilience
There will be times when things won’t go your way. But building confidence can help you accept responsibility, learn from your mistakes, and persevere. You’ll bounce back faster and better because you’ve learned from the experience instead of focusing on your shortcomings.
Support networks
Confident people search out social situations, allowing them to expand their network of friends and professional acquaintances and create meaningful connections that reinforce self-confidence in hard times.
And you don’t leave professional confidence behind at quitting time. Your hard work will begin spilling over into the rest of your life — you’ll feel more secure in your personal relationships and enjoy a better work-life balance.
Identify your confidence killer
Self-confidence takes work. Sometimes it takes a hit — and you’ll have to take steps to remind yourself how capable you are. Here are some potential triggers:
1. Perfectionism
Being exacting in your work isn’t a bad thing. But when high standards become perfectionism, with its confidence-sapping inner critic and self-doubt, it can seriously harm your mental health and self-perception.
If a project falls short of your standards, instead of engaging in negative self-talk and tearing yourself down, look at it as a learning experience. What went wrong? Did you put in your best effort? What can you do differently the next time? Accept that you’re human and treat yourself with compassion.
2. Micromanaging bosses
It’s difficult to feel confident when your boss hovers over you, correcting every little thing. It may be hard, but try to take a step back. Remember: micromanaging says more about your boss’s self-esteem than your abilities. They may not even be aware they’re micromanaging in the first place.
Instead of becoming frustrated, this is your chance to practice empathy and offer supportive feedback and a helping hand (when appropriate).
3. Disengagement at work
You can’t feel confident in your abilities when you don’t use them. If work doesn’t leverage your talents and skill set, it can affect your sense of engagement with your job.
There are a few strategies you could try. Shake up your routine to see if your feelings of stagnation improve with a different outlook, or speak with your manager and ask about any projects you could undertake that will better use your abilities. As a last resort, consider finding a new position that lets you stretch your wings.
4. Fear of failure
No one likes to fail, but letting this fear rule you means you’ll lose out on chances to grow and develop. Being so afraid of team members deriding your ideas that it causes you to remain quiet during meetings deprives them of your good ideas.
Instead, face your fear of failure head-on. Trust yourself a little extra and take on a new project. Offer an opinion. Even if you make a mistake, there’s value in the attempt — and experience.
5. Uncooperative or critical colleagues
Unpleasant people can crop up anywhere — and if you have to spend eight hours a day together, they can be particularly challenging. As with a micromanaging boss, respond to their negativity with empathy and a positive attitude whenever possible.
Consider whether there’s an underlying issue causing their rude behavior. If so, address it — which may mean looping in your supervisor. If not, so long as the actions don’t constitute workplace bullying, do your best to stand up for yourself or ignore them, depending on the circumstance.
9 ways to build confidence at work
It would be nice to wake up one morning and find your low confidence had transformed into the perfect balance of assurance and composure overnight. But you must earn confidence — which means you need to work at it.
Incorporate these confidence-building strategies into your everyday routine to kick-start the transformation:
1. Start small
Incremental steps can lead to sustainable changes in your behavior. Goal setting small, easily met objectives empowers you to build on your success and feel more confident continually.
By starting small, you can work up to more intimidating yet impactful milestones with less anxiety. For instance, you could commit to making eye contact with the speaker in your next three team meetings. Next, you focus on arriving early and making small talk with the person beside you for five meetings. After that, you progress to asking at least one question per meeting until you overcome your fear of public speaking.
2. Learn to ask questions
If your lack of knowledge reinforces a lack of confidence, it’s time to learn to ask effective questions. You’ll likely feel good about trying to understand your role better — and at the same time, you’ll increase your knowledge, lessen your chances of making preventable mistakes, and learn to advocate for yourself.
3. Dress for comfort
Check your wardrobe. How do your work clothes make you feel? Wearing a comfortable, well-put-together outfit can actually increase confidence. If fashion isn’t your thing, assemble a capsule wardrobe with a few essential, timeless pieces to mix and match.
And don’t forget your body language. Good posture not only conveys confidence — it helps build it, so be sure to stand or sit up straight with your head held high.
4. Give yourself credit
While you always have room to learn and grow, try not to devalue your accomplishments up to this point.
Remember: your employer hired you because they felt you had something valuable to contribute to the team. Don’t let a lack of qualifications or experience detract from your current strengths and skills. Acknowledging what makes you unique is integral to building your confidence and self-worth. Start by:
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Analyzing your background: Consider your family, where you grew up, your education, and everything else that contributes to your personal and professional identities.
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Listing experiences: Note childhood events, work and volunteer experience, hobbies, victories, failures, relationship moments, and learning experiences.
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Identifying traits: Ponder your personality, habits, personal style, communication, and quirks.
Use this information to inventory everything you bring to the table for days when you need a reminder.
5. Accept your mistakes and failures
When you take on challenges and set new goals, errors and setbacks are inevitable — they’re part of the personal development process. Instead of tearing yourself down, lean on your self-awareness to learn from your mistakes and accept your failures.
6. Find a trusted mentor
A mentor can share career insights and advice from their own experience, provide a sounding board to bounce ideas off of, and act as a source of solace when facing challenges. You’ll feel confident and empowered to meet your goals when there’s someone in your corner.
7. Cut out negative self-talk
Self-deprecating humor is often a sign of nervousness. It can help break the ice in small doses, but relying on negative language can impact how others see you. Instead, focus on your strengths. As a new hire, for example, leverage your fresh perspective as a source of innovation instead of putting down your lack of company knowledge.
8. Change your inner dialogue
Banish your inner critic by practicing positive affirmations. Over time, you’ll develop a more uplifting mindset that builds self-confidence instead of tearing it down. Writing positive affirmations down on sticky notes that you can position strategically around your workspace can help remind yourself of your strengths at a glance.
9. Remain informed
It’s much easier to speak with authority when you know what you’re talking about. Keep your finger on the pulse of industry trends, research, and developments through social media, certifications, and conversations with senior management. You may become the go-to person for all the latest information, which is a great self-confidence booster.
9 tips to feel more confident
Developing habits that support your self-confidence takes time and effort. Try these tips when you feel yourself slipping into old patterns:
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Leverage a growth mindset to find new challenges
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Be patient and trust that your hard work will pay off
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Celebrate your progress, no matter how small
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Trust your abilities and feelings
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Seek feedback (positive and constructive)
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See where curiosity leads you
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Track your success to remind you of how far you’ve come
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Learn to set healthy boundaries
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Acknowledge that imposter syndrome is real and take steps to overcome it
Moving forward
Confidence isn’t developed overnight. It’s something you put effort toward each day. Some days you feel on top of the world. Other days you might feel like you want to hide. That’s okay. Progress isn’t linear. We all have good days and bad ones too.
Beginning to realize that everyone has moments of self-doubt will help you not be too hard on yourself. You’re learning a skill that will touch so many aspects of your life beyond the workplace. One day you might surprise yourself with the confidence you’ve been brewing, so make sure you enjoy it.
Your journey towards being a confident person takes dedication and effort. BetterUp can provide the accountability you need to stay focused on your goals and be more confident at work.
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