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'In a Nutshell' - new ideas to keep you aware and informed
Confidence by Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Subtitled 'How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End', this book argues that confidence is not so much a state as a trajectory of self-fulfilling tendencies. "Confidence is the sweet spot between arrogance and despair - consisting of positive expectations for favorable outcomes" says Kanter, a Harvard Business School Professor and author of The Change Masters.
Basing her arguments on in-depth interviews with over 300 business, sports and political leaders, Professor Kanter identifies specific elements that characterise the polarised experiences of winning and losing streaks.
Losing Streaks
In a losing streak, people feel abandoned, doubt themselves and mistrust leaders. Energy is noticeably lacking and the process becomes a downward spiral, with an ever increasing lack of investment and faith in the possibility of achieving the outcome. A great danger in a losing streak is that people lose respect for each other and ultimately for themselves. When there's a lot of negativity, people start to perceive each other as losers and that in turn creates a momentum of low energy, ineffectual behaviours and the expectation of failure.
Kanter's Law
Reassuringly, the author also comments on what she has observed repeatedly over her career, in what she calls 'Kanter's Law'. This says that 'everything can look like a failure in the middle'. So when something isn't working well, she would say, ah - we must be in the middle of whatever it is. Which is very helpful and does indeed reflect reality. Planning for such times at the start of a project is a great strategy for dealing with what happens when the initial excitement dies down and obstacles start to emerge. The difference between losers and winners is not that winners win all the time; they don't. But they do bounce back fast and don't lose twice in a row. They are prepared for 'the difficult middle' and they retain a positive outlook, a culture of confidence.
Winning Streaks
Arguing that confidence is a situational expectation, Kanter says that a winning streak is created by the assumption of a positive outcome, allied with taking specific actions towards that outcome. Because of confidence people put in the effort. They invest time, energy and resources into getting what they want, stay in the game longer and are therefore more likely to succeed. The key to maintaining the momentum of a winning streak recognises that this confidence has to stand on a firm foundation. She identifies 3 cornerstones that substantiate this condition:
The 3 Pillars of Confidence
1. Accountability - respectfully facing facts without causing humiliation
2. Collaboration - the rituals of a culture of respect that creates teamwork
3. Initiative - the kaleidoscope thinking that unlocks creativity and energy
“Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
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