50minutes - Self-Confidence at Work: Simple steps to increase your confidence

Self-confidence as a concept first appeared in the writing of William James (1842-1910), an American psychologist considered to be the father of psychology in the United States, in his work Principles of Psychology , which was published in 1890.

According to him, self-confidence is the opinion that we have of ourselves regarding what we have done. This perfectly summarises the state of mind that today dominates the Western world and that tends to represent the individual as a disembodied object: we would thus be subjected to the same laws as an organisation or a state whose results are measured by turnover or gross domestic product (GDP). This is an entirely external self-confidence, based on appearance, and its limitations can be seen in the simple fact that even the performance indicators of organisations and states tend to increasingly involve our wellbeing as employees and citizens in their assessments.

Starting from this behaviouristic perspective as developed by William James, which defines the individual as the product of what they do, being self-confident is the result of a collection of behaviours and results that can be observed from the outside. Although it is absolutely true that our professional achievements, demonstrated through concrete and visible results, are closely linked to our feeling of self-confidence, is this definition not an overly-restrictive view that tends to categorise us? Are winners not always losers someday, and vice versa?

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Behaviourism is a psychological approach that first appeared at the start of the 20th century. It involves studying the psyche of an individual based on what we can observe from their behaviour, history and the interactions they have had with their surroundings.

Self-confidence has another meaning which, without excluding the analysis of external behaviours as a determining sign, prefers to approach the issue around the idea of self-belief. Through this concept, we can connect self-confidence with a collection of characteristics that the first approach did not: believing in ourselves gives us the opportunity to have confidence in our desires, our hopes, our strengths and our reference points to act. We advance securely, with the firm assurance that there is a strength within us which exists without necessarily needing to prove itself. And it is this energy that enables us to have a positive influence on the outside world and to take the risk to affirm ourselves.

In his work Croire en soi ou la confiance perdue et retrouve ([ Believe in yourself or confidence lost and found ], 2004), the psychoanalyst and psychosociologist Jean-Claude Liaudet introduces the idea of the constellation of self-confidence by asking the following questions: What difference is there between self-confidence, self-esteem and self-love? How does knowing oneself contribute to self-confidence and assurance, to self-affirmation? (Liaudet, 2004: 35).

Indeed, we tend to confuse self-confidence, self-esteem and self-love with being sure of ourselves, asserting ourselves, accepting ourselves and knowing ourselves. We have the impression that all these terms are the same, and it is for this reason that we often struggle to understand why we are incapable of reacting in the way we want to when faced with a professional situation that makes us lose self-confidence. We can try to understand the challenges of each element of this constellation by viewing it as a process.

Although they are defined differently, it goes without saying that these ideas intermingle and interact with each other. As a consequence, none of what is said above should be taken as a rigid process with fixed steps: depending on the history and specificities of each individual, a particular path must be followed to gain self-confidence.

Thomas Gordon (1918-2002) was an American psychologist and a pioneer in conflict resolution. Drawing heavily on Abraham Maslows (1908-1970) work on the satisfaction of needs, he conceptualised the idea of win-win. According to him, seeking to understand the other person will have a direct impact on self-assurance.

The Gordon test can be useful for any person wanting to know themselves better with the aim of gaining self-confidence in their professional life. It enables them to analyse their own self-confidence in order to have a starting point for self-reflection.