Written on 14 May 2025.

Confidence Looks Good on You (Yes, You)

Without confidence, leadership falls flat.

And here’s the part too many people forget: You don’t have to wait for someone to anoint you with a title before you start leading with confidence.

I tell every group I work with the same thing:

👉 Everyone is a leader.

Not future leaders. Not potential leaders. Leaders—full stop. And if you want others to follow your lead, you have to show them someone worth following. That begins with confidence. Not arrogance, not bravado. Instead, real, earned, practiced confidence.

It’s what helps people get behind you. It’s what earns trust. A team won’t rally behind someone who doesn’t even believe in themselves.

“Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.” – Harold Geneen

So where do you start?

Let's Ask C.A.R.L.: “How can I be more confident?”

C.A.R.L.’s response:

To boost your self-confidence, the book Becoming a Cohesive Leader suggests several strategies:

Embrace Challenges: Step outside your comfort zone and take on activities you've been putting off. This helps improve your abilities, build resilience, and boost self-confidence.
Celebrate Wins: After completing a challenging activity, celebrate your success. This reinforces positive behavior and builds confidence.
Continuous Learning: Identify strengths or weaknesses you want to explore and keep learning. This lifelong process of learning and growth contributes to a sense of accomplishment and purpose.
Surround Yourself with Positive People: Find people who inspire and motivate you. Their positivity can encourage you to take risks and maintain a positive outlook.
Visualize Success: Mentally see what you want to achieve. Visualization can improve your focus and performance by enhancing neural pathways in the brain.
Replace Negative Thinking with Positivity: Focus on learning from both successes and failures. Develop the habit of switching out negative thoughts for positive ones daily.
Develop Assertiveness: Communicate your emotions concisely and directly, with respect for others. Assertiveness can improve relationships and reduce stress.

By incorporating these practices, you can work towards building greater self-confidence.

Thanks C.A.R.L.! Now, here’s a way to bring those ideas into your week. Run yourself through this quick confidence audit:

Confidence Check-In

✅ Did I speak up when I had something valuable to share?

✅ Did I support someone else's leadership moment today?

✅ Did I challenge myself, even in a small way?

✅ Did I learn something new or uncomfortable?

✅ Did I shut down my inner critic and take action anyway?

Use it. Reuse it. Keep score if that helps you build the habit.

This is a great time to remind you that confidence is something you build, not something you’re born with.

And every time you lean into discomfort, every time you speak up, take initiative, or own your mistakes, you’re laying another brick.

So here’s your leadership reminder for the week: Don’t wait to be given permission to lead with confidence. Don’t wait for a title to act like someone worth following. And don’t fake it. Build it.

And hey, if you ever need a quick refresher on leadership tools or tips? You don’t have to re-read Becoming a Cohesive Leader or dig through a pile of books to find that one passage you vaguely remember.

Just Ask C.A.R.L.

Click here to try out our AI-powered book bot and Ask C.A.R.L. your most pressing leadership questions. He’s ready to stimulate your thinking and provide insights that help you lead with confidence.

Click here to subscribe to Cohesion Corner™ with Dr. Troy so you never miss a newsletter.

To learn more, click here to purchase your very own copy of my new book Becoming a Cohesive Leader: The POWERup Guide to Grow, Develop, and Advance Your Career.

For more insight on this topic, please refer to these blog posts:

Interested in reading more from Dr. Troy Hall? Check out my books available for purchase on Amazon.

Leadership