Do you feel confident today? Maybe you don’t — I get that. Maybe you don’t really ever take time to sit down and think about your confidence — I get that too. Or, maybe you are saying, “Neen, of course I’m confident!”
I really get that! Confidence has always been one of my superpowers (since I was a little girl). I was usually the shortest in my class (still the shortest in every photo) and I probably overcompensated for my little stature with a bigger personality. I walked into every room like everyone there wanted to play with me — and still do!
But I know that’s not the case for everyone. I understand the many challenges of Women in Leadership because of the work I do with luxury and legacy brands. Across all the CEOs and Executive Teams I coach and mentor and the Women in Leadership programs I facilitate one of the main topics is confidence: how to get it, how to keep it, how to show up with it.
In fact, confidence is so important that we made sure to include some questions around it in our Luxury Mindset research study.
Can Luxury Improve Confidence?
Two things that the women leaders said in our survey was that “luxury is a reward for hard work,” and that they “value experiences over things.” An astounding 49% of those in our research study shared that confidence was one of their biggest challenges.
Even if they had a general unease with luxury that made them uncomfortable investing in it (Reluctant & Removed) each and every one the archetypes in our research study agreed that luxury helped them improve their quality of life, have greater satisfaction, increased their self-esteem and gave them a sense of accomplishment.
The common theme? No matter if you think confidence is easy or a challenge, investing in luxury boosts your confidence.
Confidence Is Vital to Your Career
As leaders, if we want to excel in our careers, confidence is the key component for executive presence and to get the attention of those that are important to us (like our boss!). Every woman leader in our survey told us that confidence, forward-thinking, inspiring others and creative thinking were all the top qualities of executive presence.
I recently had the chance to talk with legendary Cynthia Coutu, founder of Delectabulles — a champagne education and events business located in Paris (doesn’t that sound like a fun business!). I found her as I was planning for my big June trip to France. I had stumbled across an interview with the lovely Lucy (a fellow Aussie and champagne lover and founder of Champagne Every day — are you sensing a theme here?) where Cynthia shared her brilliance on the 5 best places to sip champagne in Paris. Searching further, I saw that her website said, “giving more women the tools and confidence they need to buy sparkling wines from around the world” — well, that got my attention! Never underestimate the power of sharing your brilliance with the world in a confident way, you never know who is reading or watching. I just had to talk to her, and you can watch our interview here (and if you are a Champagne lover like me, follow her on Instagram!).
When I asked her what advice she had for leaders, she replied: “Time with the boss is perceived as a luxury by their employees. For high-performing staff, organizing a really nice lunch with the boss gives the luxury of having quality time with the leader and getting to pick their brain, getting to know them, having access.”
Yes, it takes confidence to ask for access, to ask for a promotion, and to ask for mentorship. But these will all help you in your career journey.
Attention to Luxury Pays to Feel More Confident
Remember little girl me that I talked about earlier? Well, as an adult, I’ve cultivated a luxe life of attention and time. And that’s helped me walk into each room assuming that everyone wants to connect and even help me, and that means I approach every room from a positive and confident place.
You know that I think that luxury isn’t about things, but can be an everyday experience, a choice you make to treat yourself in a way that shows you are worthy of a luxe life.
Take a moment to think about how your confidence can be affected by incorporating luxury into your life in one way. Remember, giving back time to invest in yourself is the most luxurious thing you can do. Maybe some of these ideas can help.
10 Ways to Feel More Confident:
- Walk into a room and assume everyone wants to play with you.
- Conduct a self-audit – list your top 10 attributes — remind yourself of your value.
- Invest in an outfit – you know that one outfit that feels great? Wear that more often! Get more that give you that same great feeling.
- Treat yourself to luxe accessories – your bag, your pen, your wallet, flowers or a candle on your desk — remind yourself you are worth it!
- Hire a mentor or a coach – they help you achieve your highest potential — they often see things in you and help you get there! I love my business coach, Pam Slim, and trainer Jennifer Jacobs. (I help women leaders accelerate confidence through my 1:1 coaching program and facilitating Women in Leadership programs — ask me how!).
- Trust yourself – your experience, intuition, and knowledge are unique. Share your thoughts and opinions and encourage others to do the same.
- Seek advice from professionals – I follow the daily blog The Well Dressed Life and every Nordstrom (in the USA) and major department stores in other countries have free personal stylist services — take the time to make an appointment.
- Choose positive – look for the best in yourself, others, and the situation.
- Upgrade your digital setup – invest in great lighting, a laptop stand, and a uniform for all your online meetings. Set yourself up for success (a few recommended tools are listed below). If you haven’t already set up the feature: Touch Up My Appearance on Zoom, fix that immediately!
- Know how to articulate your value – we have a tool called the Platinum Positioning Matrix that can help you with the exact words to use to share your value with others if you hate selling yourself or talking about yourself or if you hate it when people ask “so what do you do?” — I can help you! Ask me more about that.
A few tools to upgrade your digital and online confidence:
You can find many tools I recommend for your virtual setup here.
- Enhance your office lighting set up with this Diva Light kit.
- Add lighting to your selfies and conference calls on your cell phone – Clip on Diva Light
- A swiveling laptop stand that also avoids the multiple chins when you look down at your laptop –Rain Design Laptop Stand
- KoMatcha – gives me daily energy for all those days when you have one Zoom (or Team) meeting after another!
Confidence is contagious.
I know sometimes it’s tough to rally when you are feeling tired or overwhelmed. I also know that if you step into a space with confidence, it can be contagious. People pay attention.
As a leader, you have an excellent opportunity to inspire others with your confidence. You allow people to share their ideas and add value to every conversation, meeting, idea, project, and connection.
I believe it’s a responsibility and an opportunity to role model it for young girls everywhere. Show them what can be achieved when we face the world with a sense of confidence. It’s a choice we can make every day, in every situation, and adding a little luxury to your day might help with that.
Invest in the tools that will help you feel like “you have got this” … because you do.
I believe in you.
