Regaining Confidence

Dear HBR:

Are you struggling to recover from a setback? Dan and Alison answer your questions with the help of Neil Pasricha, a former Walmart executive and the author of You Are Awesome. They talk through what to do when your confidence is shattered by bad reviews, you’re in a difficult situation that you don’t know how to navigate, or you want to be a high achiever again after plateauing for a while.

From Alison and Dan’s reading list:

HBR: How to Build Confidence by Amy Gallo — “Very few people succeed in business without a degree of confidence. Yet everyone, from young people in their first real jobs to seasoned leaders in the upper ranks of organizations, have moments — or days, months, or even years — when they are unsure of their ability to tackle challenges. No one is immune to these bouts of insecurity at work, but they don’t have to hold you back.”

Book: You Are Awesome: How to Navigate Change, Wrestle with Failure, and Live an Intentional Life by Neil Pasricha — “Because resilience is a skill we now have in very short supply. Not many of us have been through famines or wars or, let’s be honest, any form of true scarcity. We have it all! And the side effect is that we no longer have the tools to handle failure or even perceived failure.”

HBR: Overcome the Eight Barriers to Confidence by Rosabeth Moss Kanter — “Confidence is an expectation of a positive outcome. It is not a personality trait; it is an assessment of a situation that sparks motivation. If you have confidence, you’re motivated to put in the effort, to invest the time and resources, and to persist in reaching the goal. It’s not confidence itself that produces success; it’s the investment and the effort. Without enough confidence, it’s too easy to give up prematurely or not get started at all. Hopelessness and despair prevent positive action.”

HBR: 2 Ways to Regain Your Boss’s Trust by David DeSteno — “If your competence is in question, be prepared for a longer slog. Competence isn’t based on motivations, and therefore can’t be altered as readily. Put simply, competence is skill-based, and if your manager doesn’t believe you possess skills you ought to have, it will take much effort to remedy.”