Self-Leadership: How to Become a More Successful, Efficient, and Effective Leader from the Inside Out

CHAPTER 6

Confidence and Communication

Our doubts are traitors, and make uslose the good we oft might win byfearing to attempt.

—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE,Measure for Measure, ACT 1, SCENE 4

Two qualities that are correlated with success in today’s world are confidence and the ability to communicate effectively. It is not surprising, therefore, that we feel that self-confidence and communication are fundamental to self-leadership. Confidence is a state of mind and body, and effective communication, both verbal and nonverbal, emanates from that confidence.

Confidence is a sense of certainty about something such as, “I am confident the sun will rise tomorrow.” Self-confidence is a belief or certainty in oneself, and the self-confident person can say, ...