A key element of management is the confidence trick. Not managers as con artists, getting people to trust them and then  swindling them out of their money, someone who runs a scam or a sting. No we are talking about bolstering self esteem. Making people feel more confident in their skills and abilities.

We come across so many people in organisations who are over confident, who over estimate their abilities and exaggerate their contribution that we sometimes fail to recognise that the opposite is also the case. There are people in every organisation who lack confidence, who underestimate their ability and knowledge , who undervalued their contribution and influence. The job of management is to not get fooled by the self promotion of those whose rhetoric does not match their delivery and to identify those being held back by a lack of self belief and give them the confidence to fulfil their potential.

As a line manager and mentor I came across some very able people who didn’t apply for posts I thought they were eminently suitable for because they thought they lacked  the skills or knowledge to meet every aspect of the JD. The fact that they already possessed 90% of what was required didn’t seem to matter. The reality is no one expects a candidate to have everything even when they want someone to hit the ground running. Tell the recruiter/interview panel what you can do, back it up with examples from what you have done and let them decide whether you have the potential they are looking for.

I also came across suitably experienced and qualified employees who told me they were put off applying for a more senior post because of the size of the salary!  The salary was such a step up from their current salary they assumed the expectations would be sky high. The task here was to encourage the individual to see how their experience and skills had equipped them for the post and whilst the salary reflected the level of responsibility it wasn’t a reason to assume expectation would be unrealistic.

Most frequently in todays agile organisations I come across people who are ambitious and good at their job but fail to appreciate that their skills are transferable and so don’t apply for posts in which they don’t have a professional background or experience in. This is a different type of lack of confidence but is still a lack of confidence in their ability to use their experience and skills in a different area.

Hopefully someone will sit them down and go through their people management skills, their examples of managing change, their ability quickly get to grips with complex issues and the evidence of their commitment to best practice and EDI. Or put another way their manager will work the confidence trick.