Being a woman in the workplace is a very complicated matter nowadays. Actually, being a woman in general is difficult nowadays, but being a confident woman is a completely different problem.
Even though we live in the 21st century, we are still burdened with ridiculous expectations from society, as if we’re still living in Medieval times. We are expected to know our place on many topics, and all most of us want to say back is profanity. The biggest issue women face at work, is the lack of confidence.
Even though our parents spend thousands on our education, most of us still think that we’re not good enough or that there is someone better. Well, it’s time to throw all that away, “man up” and get to work. Here are a few tips to help you be more confident in business and at work.
We know that it can be hard to be a woman in business or in your career. No matter what skills, knowledge, and talent you might have, the idea that business is a male-dominated discipline is still out there, and that means women often have to work harder and fight longer to be seen, heard, and appreciated.
This can lead to a loss of confidence for some. Yet having self-confidence and self-belief is crucial; it’s what will drive you forward and keep you going even when you have bad days. With that in mind, here are some valuable tips that will help you feel more confident as a woman in business. You may not want or need to implement them all, but there is sure to be something below that will help you.
How to say ‘no’ with confidence
Work With A Mentor
If you were an athlete, you would have a coach beside you, helping you to train and giving you encouragement and confidence to push yourself harder than ever before. The results you get from working like this would be much better than if you tried to train yourself and had no one to be accountable to.
In business, the same can be said of a mentor. Having a mentor there to guide you, prevent you from making potentially catastrophic mistakes, and showing you just how to become the most confident woman and best businesswoman you can be will definitely give you more confidence. You can think of your mentor as your backup, someone who is always there for you and to whom you can go if you have questions that you’re not comfortable asking anyone else.
Even if something does go wrong, which it could well do because business is unpredictable, when you have a mentor in place, ideally someone from your own sector with past experience doing what you’re doing now, you can assess what went wrong so that it never happens again, and this will give you confidence too.
Improve Your Skills
Another way to become a more confident woman as a businesswoman is to improve or top up your skills. Knowledge is power, and the more you know through various means of learning such as courses, seminars, workshops, or even choosing to apply for college to take an MBA or similar degree that will give you more business knowledge, the more confident you will feel. You will be happier to make decisions and take action when needed because you know you’ve worked hard to gain the knowledge you need.
As well as learning about business or the specific sector you are working in through extra learning, you may also pick up some additional ‘soft skills’. Soft skills include communication, research, negotiation, teamwork, problem-solving, and more. Again, when you know that you can handle any situation you have to, you’ll feel entirely confident doing just that.
Step Outside Your Comfort Zone
Even if you own your own business, it’s easy to get caught up in a comfortable space and stay there. You can meander along quite nicely there, and you could do fine with that attitude, but will you do as well as you could if you pushed harder? And will you be as confident to make decisions and try new things that could improve your business and your life if you’re happy where you are?
The answer is probably not. It’s much better to step outside your comfort zone from time to time and try new things. This relates to life just as much as it does to business, and as long as any risks are calculated, this can be an ideal way to become better at what you do and improve yourself and your business and become more confident as well. If you know that you can do anything you put your mind to, or you’re at least willing to try to do this, then your confidence will rise, and you’ll try even more new things ad infinitum.
Dress To Impress Yourself
Dressing to impress others, especially when you’re a woman in business, can backfire badly, and rather than giving you more confidence, it can make you self-conscious about your body shape or your sexuality, or anything else. This will diminish your confidence and set you back.
This is why, when you are choosing your style and clothing for business – or anything else – you should always dress to impress only yourself. Wear what makes you feel good and fits with the situation. If a statement piece from the WatchBox Patek Philippe collection makes you feel good, wear it. If you prefer a skirt to pants or vice versa, that’s what you should do. If the figure looking back at you in the mirror makes you feel confident, you’ve made the right choice.
