The Foundation of Influence

As a fledgling manager, I found myself working in a predominantly male environment; in fact, I was the only female manager! I felt intimidated in discussions, where so much was done through posturing and force, and I suspect that many decisions were made outside of the meetings anyway. Finding a voice, and one that carried influence, grew out of my developing self-confidence in who I was. Being self-assured gave me a platform to influence that was internal and not reliant on any external affirmation or approval of others.

An internal source of strength, approval and confidence cannot be easily knocked — and no-one can take it away from you unless you choose to hand it over. You build it and maintain it yourself, and it does need to grow as you stretch to meet new challenges. So to influence is to be genuinely confident and — dare I say — fearless!

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