-Is leadership confidence learned or earned?

Confidence is fundamental to your leadership, influencing how you inspire and guide your team.

But which kind of confidence is more important, learned or earned?

Both are.

Let’s look at each, the relationship between the two, and their profound impact on your leadership.

Learned Confidence.

Learned confidence in leadership is rooted in your knowledge, skills, and experience. It’s the cornerstone on which you build your capacity to lead effectively. You become more confident by learning, developing, and practicing.

The truth is that influential leaders are lifelong learners. Seek and obtain knowledge and expertise relevant to your leadership role. Whether it’s understanding industry trends or mastering new communication techniques, investing in learning builds confidence in your ability to make wiser and more informed decisions.

The next step in learned confidence is to apply what you have learned. Leadership skills are honed through practice and refinement. Trust in your leadership abilities grows as you develop and apply these skills in real-world scenarios.

Finally, your leadership confidence grows with experience. With time, you can draw confidence from past successes and failures to navigate the challenges of today.

Earned Confidence.

Earned confidence in leadership results from accomplishments, achievements, and the recognition of your leadership contributions. It bolsters your sense of self-worth and ability to inspire and lead effectively.

Effective leaders set ambitious goals for themselves, their teams, and their organizations. When you are successful, you earn confidence in your leadership capabilities. This confidence fuels your ability to set even more ambitious objectives.

At the same time, leadership is filled with challenges, from managing crises to leading through disruptive change. As you navigate these challenges successfully, you earn confidence in your ability to steer your team and organization through adversity.

Lastly, acknowledging and validating your leadership contributions by peers, team members, and higher-ups is pivotal in earning confidence. Your self-confidence is strengthened when others recognize your impact and commend your leadership style.

Learned + Earned = Empowered

Learned and earned leadership confidence are mutually reinforcing. A leadership development program is a perfect example of this. You gain confidence in your leadership abilities by acquiring new knowledge and skills, applying them, and witnessing positive outcomes. This learned confidence from the program aligns with the earned confidence gained from your successful leadership actions.

Similarly, when you have to guide your team through a significant change or transformation, you often must embark on a learning journey. You educate yourself about the change and the leadership approaches available to succeed. As you do this and witness positive outcomes, your earned confidence aligns with your learned confidence, and both are strengthened.

Your leadership confidence will grow as you embrace the learned and earned dimensions. Allow yourself to foster a mindset of continuous learning, skill development, and hands-on leadership experiences.

Let learned and earned leadership confidence empower you to successfully navigate the complexities of leadership with poise, resilience, and remarkable results.

Work Your Authentic Genuis.

How can you balance your pursuit of learning and development (learned confidence) with a deliberate focus on achieving meaningful goals (earned confidence) to enhance your leadership success?

Till next week,

Jo-Aynne Von Born, Leadership Coach