A situation that used to make me feel nervous was doing something unknown. Presenting to a group of people I haven’t met before, or going to a job interview where I didn’t know what to expect.   

But then I started to realise how visualisation could help. It's something that lots of hugely successful athletes like the swimmer Michael Phelps use. They create a picture in their mind of what the race or event will look like. They picture themselves right there in the moment. Most importantly what performing well will look and feel like. 

Confidence. As you read that word, I’m sure you have your own picture in mind about what that looks like.  

But can you spot in in yourself? Or more importantly do you recognise when a lack of it may be holding you back from what you want? 

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.