4 habits for HR managers to boost confidence and accelerate success

On a day-to-day basis, a HR professional could be wearing many different hats, from building external relationships, to networking with employees and decision makers alike to help drive the company culture. To be successful in this role, it takes a fair degree of confidence.

Yet many people in HR say they are afraid of putting their ideas forward, working with superiors on a daily basis, or feel like they have missed out on a promotion or pay rise because of their lack of self belief. Contrary to what you may think, this kind of confidence is not a personality trait reserved for only the lucky few, or a fixed attribute; confidence is actually learnable.

With consistent effort, and the courage to take a risk, we can gradually expand our confidence and, with it, our capacity to build more of it.  Here's four habits that will help you to do that.

1. Show up as the real you

This is more than getting out of bed, splashing some water on your face and fronting up at your desk hoping you can cope with what the day throws at you.

You believe you can draw on what you are great at, whether it's your fantastic people skills or your ability to make quick decisions. You believe what you're good at is important, and that it's aligned with how you are working. You believe that you are valuable and valued at work and in life.

Showing up as truly confident over a sustained period of time is something that needs to be built from the inside out. €˜Faking it until you make it' only gets you so far and for so long. Trying to pretend you have the confidence needed to get the job done can be exhausting. So learn to be you.

1. Stand up for yourself

In human resources, you need to speak up when no-one else will and lead change. You need to be visible and make unpopular decisions. You must stand alone in a crowd and have the confidence to believe in yourself.

To speak out, you have to know what to speak about. To stand up for your beliefs, you have to know what you stand for. So what do you value? What is your purpose?

Steve Jobs once said, €˜Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful, that's what matters to me.'

Inevitably, when we stand up, we are putting ourselves at risk of rejection. Building your capacity to get back up again is important in maintaining your confidence during adversity and setbacks.

1. Speak up and have a voice

A sure way to fail in today's demanding workplace is to keep quiet when you should be speaking up!

Many of us also back away from speaking up to avoid conflict. We see conflict as bad, rather than being able to reframe it as healthy debate. As a result, we keep our opinions to ourselves €“ thinking that if we just keep doing our job and delivering the outcomes, we will get ahead.

Yet we must be willing to speak up, even when it is hard or unpopular or you feel like it will cause conflict. As Martin Luther King Jr put it, €˜Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter'. So use your voice!

1. Step up your performance

Reflecting on your current behaviours and stepping up as required is critical. You often need to do things differently tomorrow from how you are today. You need to take yourself out of your comfort zone €“ and be confident enough to do this €“ and be aware of your context and what the environment requires of you because this is always changing.

If you've got your €˜head down and bum up' all day long, knocking off your to-do list, how will you be able to assess what you need to do to get a leg up in your career? Looking higher and wider means learning to delegate to others, which can be scary.

Continue to challenge yourself and ask, €˜If what got me here won't get me there, what do I need to be doing now to step up and succeed?'

Michelle Sales is a highly sought-after speaker, trainer, facilitator and coach who helps senior leaders and their teams learn to show up as the best version of themselves, to build their confidence and influence with others, and to maximise their leadership and performance. She is the author of the book €˜The Power of Real Confidence'. Find out more at www.michellesales.com.au