Why confidence is the invisible performance driver leaders must not overlook

Picture two people facing the same task. Kate thinks I can do this. Jared thinks this is beyond me. Same task, same level of capability, very different outcomes.

Confidence doesn’t guarantee success. But it does stack the odds in your favor. Kate will tackle the task with energy and initiative. Jared has already decided the task is beyond him, so investing real energy and effort feels pointless.

Scale that up to a team, and you have the most powerful performance variable available to leaders: confidence.

A team that’s united by a belief that we’ve got this is more likely to take bold action, persist through setbacks, and find creative solutions.

Psychologist Albert Bandura calls this collective efficacy. His research shows that teams with high collective efficacy set more ambitious goals, show greater persistence, and perform at higher levels than teams lacking that shared belief.

Cultivating confidence is how leaders convert an ambitious agenda into exceptional performance.

Leaders set the confidence climate

Confidence is contagious. So is doubt.

Humans pick up emotions from those around us and this effect is magnified by hierarchy. The emotions of leaders are particularly contagious. Whether you’re anxious or optimistic, gloomy or confident, your team is likely to absorb and reflect your emotions.

A leader I know recalled their manager’s habit of sending “WhatsApps of panic.” It took conscious effort to resist being infected by that panic.

A senior leader who doubts the strategy or hedges on decisions can suppress confidence across an entire layer of the organization. The effect cascades.

A leader who holds steady under pressure and displays grounded optimism gives permission for the team to do the same.

Belief-building leadership in practice

Making belief-building leadership the norm across an organization - through how leaders are developed and what behaviors are modeled and rewarded - is one of the most impactful investments HR can make.

This is what belief-building leadership look like in practice.

Authentic imperfection: Teams don't need a perfect leader. They need a real one. Authenticity is contagious. If a leader is confident to be themselves - imperfections and all - it gives team members the confidence to do the same. It's reassuring to know we're not the only beautiful mess of a human being - that colleagues (and even the boss!) are imperfect too.

Challenging assignments: The kind of action that grows confidence is a little scary. Too little stretch can result in apathy, disengagement and a drop in self-belief: perhaps this is all I can do. Too much stretch can trigger stage fright - the team member freezes, paralyzed by fear. The sweet spot is the kind of stretch that bolsters self-belief as the team member surprises themselves with their ability to navigate new territory.

More questions than answers: Most of us bristle when we’re told what to do. Telling can carry an unspoken judgment: you need to be told because you can’t figure it out for yourself. By giving a team member the opportunity to work their way through something challenging, rather than executing instructions, the leader offers them access to new information about themselves. The team member grows their confidence with an ever-expanding mental list of reasons to think ‘if I can do that, then I can do more…’

Cultivating fertile soil for confidence

Confidence is fueled (or diminished) by organizational culture. Psychological safety provides fertile soil in which confidence can grow. It’s a climate in which it’s OK to take risks, to express ideas and concerns, to raise questions, and to admit mistakes - all without fear of negative consequences.

We build confidence by taking action, moving toward challenges and trying new things, and we’re much more able to do this when we feel safe.

HR can play a meaningful role in building that safety - though culture is co-created, and responsibility doesn’t sit with HR alone.

Here are three ways HR can help:

Ensure that your values are valued. A set of clear norms and expectations provides the sense of predictability and fairness that underpins psychological safety. I know what is required of me, I understand what is valued here, and I am clear on unacceptable behaviors. If you have a set of values, ensure that they are much more than just a poster on the wall. Support leaders to be clear (through both words and actions) about what’s non-negotiable.

Allow space for colleagues to be themselves. Be wary of weighty behavioral competency models that suggest there’s a single way of operating that drives success. Psychological safety exists where there is clarity on the performance outcomes that are required and freedom for individuals to deliver those outcomes in their own way.

Invite different points of view. Coach senior leaders to invite challenge - the difficult questions, the unpopular points of view - and to respond with appreciation and curiosity rather than defensiveness. What I’m describing is the opposite of a stage-managed Q&A with the executive team. Real conversation matters at every level. When leaders are open about their struggles, or invite honest challenge on their thinking, it gives others permission to do the same.

Start with belief

I want to suggest a new lens for executive teams: what’s fueling belief in this organization and what’s draining it?

Start there, and much else follows. Confident teams back themselves in the face of significant challenge. They set bolder goals, persist longer, and find better solutions.

Belief-building leadership - and the organizational conditions that support it - is what powers performance.