“A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader; a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

The Confidence Myth: Why You Don't Have to Feel Ready to Lead

Most of us have the belief that we must feel ready before we take on a leadership role. In fact, many of us have imposter syndrome once we get there. We don't feel qualified to lead this project or group of people. Who is going to listen to little old me? These feelings are normal.

If we want things to feel perfect, we will never act. The way you learn and grow is to just start. That means taking those first shaky steps and feeling the fear. You may make mistakes. You may micromanage your people, or miss a deadline, or have a presentation flop. You may make bad decisions. But the fact is that's what's required to learn. And you have been doing this type of learning since you were a baby. When you took your first steps and fell down, when you started to climb and fell off the couch. When you started driving and your parents kept the death grip on the "Oh Shit" handle. Our lives are about just starting. Just do it. Imperfect action is still action. And its what we need to grow.

The fact is, you gain confidence by doing. The more you are in a leadership role, the more you learn, the more comfortable and confident you can become. Taking imperfect action is a prerequisite.

Action Item: Here is a journal prompt for today. What would you do if you believed you were already enough? What if you just started? What would happen? Where would you be in a year?