Workplace Confidence Zappers (And How To Beat Them)

(Unsplash CC0)

Some people seem to blossom and shine when in the workplace. They show no fear when raising their ideas and they succeed in everything they do. These are the people who are often considered for promotion and who get glowing references when they move on with their careers elsewhere.

Then there are those people who don’t have that level of confidence. They don’t raise their voice, take risks, or put themselves forward for career enhancement. This is often a shame as they are often very competent, despite the way they view themselves in the workplace.

If you are relating to the latter group of people, there may be very good reasons why. Consider the following and take action, as by doing so, you might finally gain confidence and experience more success at work. 

#1: Fear of speaking

Are you that person who fails to raise their voice at workplace meetings? Do you back down whenever you are asked to lead training for other employees? Do you clam up every time your boss or work colleagues ask you a question? If so, you may have a fear of speaking. 

People fear speaking, for all kinds of reasons. Some are afraid of embarrassment by saying the wrong thing. Others avoid speaking because of speech impediments, such as stammering. And there are those who hate the thought of speaking to groups of people, which is why public speaking can be such a problem for them. 

To overcome this fear, there are solutions, depending on your particular situation. You could take courses in public speaking if this applies to you, or you could search for the best speech therapy if talking proves difficult. You could also take time out to consider how valuable you are to your company, as you may need to overcome that voice in your head that says you have nothing to offer. 

These are just some of the things you can do but as with most fears, you could push yourself forwards, despite the risks. By raising your voice, you may start to become more confident as you become more comfortable with speaking. 

#2: Workplace colleagues

(PxHere CC0)

Some of us would rather work alone than with others, and this is partly because our colleagues can cause us to experience low self-confidence. We are thinking about the people who put us down, for little or no reason. And then there are those people we mentioned at the beginning, the work colleagues who seem to be full of confidence and inadvertently make us feel inferior when we’re in their company. 

If your colleagues affect your confidence, you should do what you can to manage them. If they are rude, critical, or judgemental, it might be that you need to tell them what you think. By standing up to them, they may have cause to think about their actions. 

You could also speak to a manager or to somebody else at work in a leadership position. Workplace bullying is common, and you might be the victim of this. There should be policies in place to counter bullying so if people are being unfairly mean to you, it might be that somebody higher up can intervene on your behalf. If they don’t, you are in your right to speak to a union rep.

But if your low confidence is related to feelings of inferiority, simply because you compare yourself to others, then once again, reflect on your place in your company. What do you do well? What have you achieved? It doesn’t matter if you other people are better than you in some regards as there are bound to be things that you excel at. Keep these in mind whenever you are feeling down about yourself. 

#3: Fear of failure 

If you fear failure, you will be less likely to take on new job roles. You will probably avoid the speaking situations we mentioned earlier. And you will be less inclined to push yourself forwards in other ways, in fear of making a mistake or looking foolish in front of others. 

The first thing we have to say is this. Don’t worry about making mistakes! You’re only human so don’t sweat it if you screw up in any way. 

However, you can overcome this fear by learning new skills, so commit to any training that is offered to you. You will then be better equipped to do new things. If training isn’t offered to you, do what you can in your own time. And as we suggested earlier, push yourself forwards. If you hold yourself back all the time, you might only regret it and start to feel as if you are a failure. By putting yourself out there and trying something new, you should naturally start to feel more confident, as you will have shown courage by moving out of your comfort zone. 

Do these confidence zappers relate to you? If so, do what you can to overcome them. By doing so, you will start to feel better about yourself, improve your chances at work, and have the opportunity to impress the people that are around you. We wish you every success!

Tia, and TipsfromTia.com is trying to keep you looking good and
feeling good, from the inside out. If you’ve got a problem or a tip email me! Be sure to Like and share on Facebook or Follow-on Twitter or Instagram.