Excellence University Journal

Encouraging (and training) others to trust themselves

by Dr. Brian Higley

April 1st, 2007

Many leaders – either consciously or unconsciously – promote trust in themselves at the cost of promoting trust in their employees’ own selves.  This is often done by encouraging employees to see “good” as “what the boss approves of.”  To some leaders, this might seem great, but before you make that judgment, you might want to revue the benefits of encouraging self-trust throughout your entire team.

Those who trust themselves tend to be much more confident, creative, and willing to learn and change.  Included in that confidence is an accurate depiction of their own limitations – those with less self-confidence are more likely to hide their weaknesses rather than seek to either strengthen them or find someone to help them in these areas.  On the other hand, those that trust themselves can also often sense when someone is trying to pick away at that self-trust – and the most talented individuals will seek to find another leader or organization when they sense this is going on.

A critical final point on this topic: it is well known that the most creative people are often those that trust themselves enough to innovate – even in the face of “doubters”.  Almost every person who is seen as a “genius” – from Einstein to Bill Gates to Galileo – was at one time in lives labelled as either stupid or crazy.  One of the most important reasons that they are now seen as innovators is their trust in themselves.  Is there an Einstein or a Galileo in your company right now?  The more you get your people to trust themselves (even if you don’t always agree with them), the more likely it is you’ll find out!

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Article Filed under: I. WATER (Team/Group Excellence)