Self-confidence is understanding that you trust your own judgment and abilities, and that you value yourself and feel worthy, regardless of any imperfections or of what others may believe about you.

Self-efficacy and self-esteem are sometimes used interchangeably with self-confidence, but they are subtly different.

We gain a sense of self-efficacy when we see ourselves (and others like us) mastering skills and achieving goals. This encourages us to believe that, if we learn and work hard in a particular area, we’ll succeed. It’s this type of confidence that leads people to accept difficult challenges and to keep going in the face of setbacks.

As in any other aspect of the job, in the area of ​​change management, the self-confidence of those who implement these changes from management positions is important, as well as the one of other employees of the company. It stems from the knowledge, but also the support of the management and the supervisory board.

In the last decade, companies have increasingly begun to realize the importance of educating their employees. First of all, education provides the necessary hard skills such as the use of certain computer tools, data analysis according to the most modern standards and making presentations and graphics, but also soft skills aimed at optimizing communication and teamwork. But in addition to providing knowledge, it gives employees a sense of importance and personal growth. Combined, education and the impression that the employer cares for them contribute to building self-confidence in people. A confident employee will find it much easier to accept change and start applying it than one to whom it was presented abruptly in a sea of ​​other responsibilities he has in the workplace.

Those in top positions, such as CEOs or members of the board and supervisory board, should use whatever is available to them to give the rest of the company more confidence. These can be polite greetings, donating roses on Women’s Day, organizing team buildings and regular meetings where employees’ ideas are listened to and respected, thus enabling fluid communication. An employee who feels valued by those in management positions is a quality employee who will appreciate the company much more and, of course, have more confidence to express his opinion in the future, but also to do his job with more confidence and faith in himself.

Take a look at the examples in the table below, which compares confident behavior with behavior that’s associated with low self-confidence.