As a coach, I often talk to people who are burnt out, stressed or just done with their job. This is not only bad for the person but also not great for the employer; the company now either has someone not performing well or will need to be replaced when they want to leave.

You don’t need to be an expert in analysis to see that companies are finding it incredibly hard to recruit and then retain good people right now. There’s a new dynamic evolving where candidates and employees hold more of the power. 

Early in my career I used to think being the boss was synonymous with confidence. That they knew exactly what they were doing all the time, never worried about speaking to a packed audience and were sure about all their decisions.  It’s only when I got to more senior positions and worked closely with the leadership teams and saw  ‘behind the curtain’ that I realised this theory was off the mark. 

I love music. I’ve played the guitar for about 30 years now and a few years back I used to play gigs around London. It was all solo acoustic stuff.

It was great fun and I (mostly) enjoyed it, but it also taught me A LOT about confidence and getting the best out of myself.

Here are three of the lessons that I continue to use everyday.

No, it’s not a scam, it’s a way to start building your confidence.

Confidence is the stuff that turns thoughts into actions. Here’s the good news – you don’t need to become a super confident person; confidence can be specific to the thing you want to change.

Here’s some more good news, it’s within your power to boost your confidence. Try these tips.

No one wants to look like a fool.

Fear of looking a fool can stop us doing a lot of things, from wearing a slightly different outfit to speaking up in meetings.

That’s pretty common, but as a coach, the question I ask clients is how are they interpreting what a fool looks like? In my experience it’s mostly just our own perception based on assumptions we are making about what other people think.