The Confidence Blueprint: How Women Leaders Can Create a Lasting Legacy
Has it been just one more year and one more round of playing small in a man’s world? Has it been another umpteen months of your brilliant ideas being hijacked? I’m looking at you, Powerhouse. If this is how your year has been–aren’t you tired of watching from the sidelines while your brilliance and light get snuffed out or overlooked altogether?
If you’re nodding or the little voice inside your head is saying, “How’d she know?” then let’s get real, shall we? It’s time to ditch the self-doubt and amp up the attitude. It’s time to step into the spotlight.
Are you ready to unleash the fierce leader inside of you? Are you ready to lead authentically and powerfully inside your industry and your life? Are you ready to create a lasting legacy?
If you’re with me yell, YAY!
(I’m going to assume you did…)
There’s still time this year to pivot in that direction, so you’re ready to enter the next one fired up to live and lead the way you’ve envisioned all along.
THE CONFIDENCE BLUEPRINT
Truthfully, it doesn’t take a total extreme makeover to move you in that direction. (But if a chic new power suit or turquoise boots would help you with the transformation, don’t let me dissuade you.) It also doesn’t require months of painstaking effort to change how you lead–though there is effort involved. Because leaders aren’t just born, leaders can be made. This is, however, an active process that will require your participation.
To stand in your authenticity and power, you must first understand the confidence blueprint–this is an alchemy of knowing. Not thinking or believing. Knowing with a capital ‘K’. Which means no room for doubting, second-guessing, or playing small. Capeesh?
Know your true self +
Know your direction and legacy +
Know your capacity to act +
Know how to embrace your imperfections.
=
A confident leader who stands in their authenticity and power
Knowing these four things is how you become a leader who leaves a legacy. That’s what all great leaders want, right? To leave something behind. To make an impact. We want what we are doing to matter.
VISION, MISSION, AND VALUES: THE PATH TO TRUE KNOWLEDGE
Your personal vision, mission, and values are the compass guiding your leadership journey. When these align, they invigorate not just you but everyone you touch. A clear vision, a purposeful mission, and core values simplify everything—from setting goals to making challenging decisions.
KNOWING YOUR TRUE SELF
Often, we're engrossed in the 'doing' and neglect the 'being.' Yet, who you are and how you present yourself is as crucial as your actions. Remember, we're human beings, not just doers.
To truly know yourself, strip away the external pressures and expectations. Like Michelangelo sculpting David, remove the excess to reveal your essence. Shed the compulsions, the need for perfection, and the urge to please. Ground yourself in your true identity.
KNOWING YOUR DIRECTION AND LEGACY
A vision statement paints a picture of your aspirational future—the world you want to shape. It’s a future-focused concept that instantly invokes a picture of the ideal state of the world after you have made your impact. Ultimately, it is the legacy you want to leave.
I wrote my vision over twenty years ago. I envision a world of people at home with themselves–meaning, every person feeling heard, known, and appreciated for who they are. I have worked on living true to each day for the last twenty years. Am I always successful? Nope. But I get back up the next morning and start all over again. I stand there every moment of every day, and I know if I died tomorrow, I would die fulfilled because I have given my life over to something far bigger than me and the crap in my head.
KNOWING YOUR CAPACITY TO ACT
To bring your vision to life, understand your values, and craft a mission statement. Values shape beliefs, which in turn drive actions. Recognizing your core values simplifies decision-making, ensuring alignment with what truly matters to you. Your mission statement, rooted in the present, bridges the gap between your current actions and future aspirations. Values influence beliefs, beliefs influence actions, and actions determine results. So, when we look at our peak performance in any area of our life–including leadership–values are the first step. They hold everything up.
Real life-changing values work is a conscious, active, intentional process of determining what will fulfill you for the rest of your life. What are the core values you are going to base your beliefs and, therefore your actions on? When you understand your values, it is easy to know when something is right for you because your values are the things that are the most important to you–the things that you cannot live happily without. By knowing your values, you can make decisions that you will find fulfilling and rewarding.
When you know your values, you can better develop a mission statement. This is a single sentence that describes your purpose. It describes your intention and demonstrates how you’re working towards making your vision statement a reality. A mission statement is about today, while a vision statement is about the future. So, what are you able to do (produce) today that works towards your vision?
KNOWING HOW TO EMBRACE YOUR IMPERFECTIONS
Leadership isn't about perfection; it's about progress. It's the daily commitment to growth, even in the face of mistakes. A scarcity mindset, fearing inadequacy or judgment, hinders growth. Embracing and learning from your flaws strengthens you and sets a positive example for those around you. When you clearly know who you are, where you’re heading, and what it will take for you to get there, this confidence goes much longer than perfectionism ever will. (Especially seeing as perfectionism isn’t attainable, you’ll only hold yourself back further in its pursuit.)
So often, I watch leaders get caught up in the worry that if they show weakness (however they define that), make mistakes, or don’t know all the answers, someone will swoop in and take over. Or they worry they’ll be called out for not knowing what they’re talking about. This translates into leaders thinking they must have all the answers and there’s no room for error. This all stems from a perspective of lack. That as a leader, we don’t have enough of what it takes; that we are missing something vital to make us effective or worthy of our role and position; and, or, we can’t let our team see our faults or shortcomings.
When we don’t allow ourselves imperfection, faults, or error, we model that it is unacceptable for those around us. We live in a negative space, always focused on inferiority or failure instead of abundance and success, which will keep us small and stuck. Knowing how to own our mistakes makes us a more effective and empowering leader.
KEEPING UNSHAKEABLE CONFIDENCE
Once you have the four KNOWS figured out, you’ll undoubtedly feel more confident as a leader. But confidence isn’t something that you attain once and then keep always. Like everything else, you’ve got to work at it. It’s a muscle to be strengthened. When we don’t work the muscle, we lose the muscle.
Part of keeping unshakeable confidence is remembering the KNOWS and returning to them. But there are an additional six steps you can take to ensure your confidence is rock solid. The cliff notes version is:
Lean into the hard stuff
Don’t go numb
Create community
Know you’ll survive
Never ask “Why me?”
Don’t be a victim.
Notice how all of these things have to do with YOU. As with all other things, confidence is 100% an inside job. Wanna know the reason these six things work? It’s because they change the way you relate to yourself and your circumstances. To quote my prior blog post linked above, “You go from doubting to KNOWING.”
Hey, look at that. We’ve come back around to good old Knowing with a capital K.
You don’t have to feel small, overlooked, or undervalued for another year. I beg you not to. Imagine a year where you lead with authenticity, shaping the legacy you've always envisioned. Confidence starts within. Understand your essence, direction, potential, and approach to challenges. Be the leader who crafts a lasting legacy.
Now is the time to build that confidence in yourself. If you don’t have confidence in yourself, you can’t empower your team to have confidence in themselves (or you) either. Start by getting crystal clear on who you are, where you’re heading, what you’re capable of, and how you plan to own your mistakes. Become the leader who leaves a legacy. Commit to finally being you.
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Suppose you’re ready to stand authentically as one of the most powerful women leaders today. In that case, I’m inviting you to enroll in the Unleash Your Legacy Coaching Collective, where you will rediscover that fiery vision that doesn't just wake you up but fuels your day with purpose and drive; be celebrated, valued, and recognized for the distinct mark you make at work; lead with unstoppable confidence; and design a life where every facet radiates with satisfaction, from your career to personal passions.
