I have been delighted to be asked to contribute to International Women's Day by supporting a blog led by Dr Chris Bailey. Chris created the blog and pledges with myself and 16 fantastic Women Leaders on this year's theme of  #BeBoldForChange and asked us:
  
“How will you #BeBoldForChange?”  

Here’s what I shared:
"I will champion mentoring as a brilliant tool to support women on their journeys. Mentoring is simply the most powerful, positive, and practical way to make a difference.
For mentees, it improves confidence, performance, and decision-making. For mentors, it improves confidence and skills.  
And for any organisation involved, it creates a collaborative, positive, inclusive culture. Confidence is so often the biggest mountain in the way preventing women from achieving what they really want especially when there are changes to be made – let mentoring support you on your journey to find the path that really works for you."
– Jackie Jenks, CEO at Leapfrog Mountain, Enterprise & Mentoring Academy 

So I thought it would be useful to explore here too - why does confidence really matter:

True self confidence means that you will benefit in so many ways. In our business confidence course designed with wellbeing expert Adam Shaw we explore how to build confidence, overcome challenges and identify your growth opportunities. The main areas you will see benefits on are in areas that will make a real difference to you.

The top 10 areas that delegates tell us confidence makes a difference to them are:

Results – Confident people achieve what they want. They believe in their purpose and goals and so their focus means they get where they want to.

Resilience – Confident people have a higher resilience to any set backs. They have a sense of purpose and look at any issues they have as learning experiences and build themselves up again from there. Their higher resilience equals increased wellbeing and less stress.

Risk taking – Confident people take the appropriate risks they need to develop themselves and their goals. It doesn't mean they aren't scared or that they are being reckless. It simply means they understand their fears and then focus on what they can do next. Sometimes doing something you are scared of builds confidence in other areas of your life. As a personal example I always wanted to scuba dive but was very scared indeed. After pushing myself through it's been so empowering. Any time I feel less confident I just remind myself that if I can sit at the bottom if the sea and take my oxygen away (which is one of the safety tests) I can do anything! 

Learning from mistakes – A confident person will not be personally devastated if things don't go their way. They learn from the situation then they will pick themselves up and focus on what they can now do.

Self belief – Confident people do not need others approval to feel ok. They aren't arrogant as they listen to others views and take them into account. They simply feel comfortable knowing their own skills, knowledge and limitations.

Assertiveness – Confident people know what they want and are comfortable discussing this and asking for help if it's needed. They believe their needs are as important – not more or less important than anyone else's needs.

Authenticity – Confident people like themselves and know who they are. This means they are comfortable being truly themselves which in turn makes them great company.

Collaboration – Confident people like to share and discuss  knowledge, skills and insights so they are naturally drawn to collaborative working to get the best results for everyone.

Networking – Confident people look forward to meeting new people and exploring new experiences which gives them great opportunities.

Happiness – Confident people enjoy their life as they know what they want and they  feel they are on the path to achieving it.

Let Mentoring support you on your journey to find the path that really works for you.

To find out more about our enterprise and mentoring training options please get in touch