When our competence in an area grows, so does our confidence.
When lacking confidence in a new role, job, or life experience, go toward improving your competence, knowledge, and skills in that area. Be bold with your boss and team and simply say, “I don’t know how to do XYZ yet, will someone spend some time with me and show me?” When our competence in an area grows, so does our confidence.
The reverse is also true. If you aren’t quite competent in an area, but you have a bucket of confidence, draw upon that stored up confidence to try new things. This is sort of the “fake it to make it” adage. However, I would suggest being honest about your lack of competence and that you are on a learning curve. People can see or sense incompetence and we make it worse by pretending or covering.
Confidence and Competence work together in all that we do. Use them as complementary skills. Intentionally deploy the strong one when the other is weak. Eventually, both will grow!
