Confidence in Leadership: Collaboration with Others
Stating that collaboration is an important quality for leaders is probably quite obvious. But have you ever considered how collaboration matters to your confidence? In this episode, we look at the role that collaboration plays as we step into our ‘power’ as … you guessed it … Confident leaders!
[Alicia Davis] Hello, I’m Alicia Davis.
[Stacie Watson] And I’m Stacie Watson.
[Alicia Davis] We are the founders and co-owners of Transformative Leadership Strategies, a coaching, training, and team-building company. And we want to really thank you for downloading our guide, Skyrocketing Your Confidence as a Leader. You know, Stacie, we were very intentional in creating this guide and doing these videos, because confidence is a theme that we hear across the board, from our leaders, no matter what role they’re in, no matter how experienced they are. Confidence is a challenge, isn’t it?
[Stacie Watson] It is, and along with being a challenge, it’s a really big word. And so it just sort of looks and feels differently to every person. And even from person to person from situation to situation, it can be different. And so one of the thoughts that we had was, if we could take this very large concept, and perhaps break it into smaller components or factors, it would just give us a chance to look at different ways not only to understand confidence but ways we might actually work to increase our confidence in any given moment. And so that sort of led us to the confidence wheel, which is the backbone of the guide that we’ve shared with you today.
[Alicia Davis] That’s right. And so if you have it in front of you, great if you don’t, that’s okay. But here is the wheel. And in our video today, we want to focus on the key factor of collaboration with others. And you know, that might sound really familiar to you like collaboration, what how we define it is how we work together with others toward a common goal. And, you know, it’s a great concept, isn’t it, Stacie, but it doesn’t always show up in the workplace in that in that easy of a way?
[Stacie Watson] Well, it’s true. And you know, one of the ways that this really came to the front for me in working with a leader was this particular leader, her organization had just been acquired by another organization. And they were really trying to create a new culture altogether. And of course, if any of us have gone through a merger acquisition, we know that is a journey to get from sort of where you started to where you’re going. And so she was feeling not very confident because she was in the acquired organization. And so she wasn’t sure of how do I fit in with the people from this other organization? How do I find my spot and sort of assert myself as a leader in a way that is effective and productive? And so we really focused on this idea of collaboration. What does it look like for you to be able to find the right people and collaborate in a way that really matters and is meaningful, it really helped her feel more confident in her own leadership as they navigated through that transition. And I think that’s an extreme example, but I think it’s a good one. Because anytime we’re going through challenging situations at work, one way that we might help ourselves feel more confident is to find someone else to work with, to sort of arrive at a common goal and work together to get there, there’s a lot of power in collaboration.
[Alicia Davis] That’s, that’s right. That’s so true. And, you know, collaboration as you reflect on it on a scale of one to 10. So one is, you know, I don’t really collaborate very well with others and 10 is yeah, I collaborate really well and feel really good about how I, how I interact with others. And so wherever you are on that scale, really try to not have judgment about it, just notice, and, you know, really notice what’s working for you. And notice, you know, if there was something that perhaps you might do a little differently, so maybe it’s, you know, picking up the phone and asking for help, or maybe it’s letting go of a little bit of you know, if you have some of your own self-criticism of something has to be perfect before I share it with somebody else, right, maybe let go of that a little bit. Let’s see if there’s a way that you can identify one simple action or step, you can put it at the end of your guide that might help you feel more as if you’re able to collaborate more successfully with others. We would love to hear from you about any of your insights. You can email us at info@tlstransforms.com. And we look forward to talking with you soon.
[Stacie Watson] Absolutely!
