World of Work: How to build confidence in the workplace?

Clement Manyathela spoke to courage coach Telana Simpson for more.

Someone who is shy or introverted may know the difficulties of expressing your ideas in the workplace.

Even if you have something to contribute, the confidence to actually share, and self-doubt may affect how you interact at work.

Clement Manyathela spoke to courage coach Telana Simpson about how to gain confidence at work and overcome this fear of expressing your ideas.

According to Simpson one of the first things to acknowledge in order to build confidence is that we have intrinsic value as humans which is not tied to our ideas or thoughts are contributions.

So often people have low or high self-esteem because they have attached their own self-worth to how people perceive them.

This can create fear around expressing ideas because we have this belief that if people do not like or agree with us it becomes a reflection on us as a person and affects our value.

When we acknowledge this intrinsic value it can become easier to recognize the value of our contributions and also see that failure is not the end of the world.

In addition to this, the more that someone does speak up and present their ideas, the easier it becomes and the more their confidence grows.

The key part of confidence is it only comes with practice.

Telana Simpson, Courage coach

At the end of the day, most people have felt nervous or self-conscious around expressing themselves at some point, but we all have something of value to add in whatever space we're in, which others can only see when we have the confidence to share.

Whether you are shy or outspoken, remember you were hired for a reason so don't be afraid to share your thoughts and contributions.

To find out more about gaining confidence at work, listen to the full interview below.

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