Most supervisors want employees who are willing to show appropriate initiative in their work - employees who do things without having to be told to do them. How many of you would like for your children to clean their room without being told? OK, maybe that is a little far fetched, but you get the idea. We know from a lot of research over the past 50-years that people with confidence are much more willing to take initiative. With this in mind, really good supervisors do everything they can to instill confidence in their employees. So how do they do it?
There are three essentials to building confident employees (and children):
1. Evaluate strengths and weaknesses
2. “Engineer Opportunities for Success” based on those strengths and weaknesses
3. Acknowledge success to increase confidence
First, you have to honestly evaluate what each employee is really good at and where they could use some improvement. Second, “engineer opportunities for success” primarily for the areas needing improvement, but also for the areas that are already strengths. Remember, while we can learn from failure, confidence is built primarily on successes. Finally, “acknowledge the success”. People need positive feedback from important people in their lives, and as a supervisor or parent, you are significant. Be a confidence builder and you will find that things get done faster and with less of your effort.
