Am I good enough…?
How the wrong work environment can hit our confidence
A Formula One driver changing teams at the peak of their powers, only for their performance to tumble. A top Premier League striker, struggling to find the back of the net following a change of management.
Like these high-profile examples, most of us will have seen someone’s confidence crumble in a new role. Competent and high performing previously, they now seem to repeatedly miss the mark, make unforced errors, fall behind on their targets.
The truth is, we have all been in environments that bring the best or the worst out of us. Environments where our worst habits come out or where our best habits can surface. Teams and managers who enable us to thrive or who contribute to our confidence nose-diving.
When I found myself in this situation early on in my career, I initially didn’t really notice. Like the frog who doesn’t realise that the water it’s sitting in is gradually coming to the boil, I knew I was struggling but didn’t realise the malign, creeping impact my environment was having on my confidence and as a result, my performance.
How confident we feel in our jobs is the result of a complex combination of factors, such as the length of time we’ve been in role, our level of autonomy, whether we feel trusted by our manager and team, the degree of psychological safety we experience, how well our work aligns with our strengths, the relative status we hold within our organisation, and how people interact with us. In addition, it's important to be aware of other influences outside of the workplace - such as family or health issues, major life changes or milestones - as well as our personal disposition.
In my case, chaotic management, a lack of support and the absence of psychological safety, all contributed to a toxic team environment. Being naturally self-critical, I at first assumed I simply wasn’t good enough, and the impact was significant, detrimental and long-lasting. On realising eventually that the issues I experienced were systemic, not related to my ability, and mostly out of my control or even influence, I knew I had to take steps to protect both my mental health and indeed my career.
Only once I had – painfully - removed myself from the situation and was yet again thriving, was I able to gradually rebuild my confidence. Tools such as Insights Discovery also helped to develop a much greater understanding of my own behavioural tendencies and likely reactions to certain situations, environments and the behaviours of others.
Why confidence matters
Confidence at work matters because it’s correlated with both job satisfaction and performance (Kraus & Orth 2021). For most of us this is intuitive. When we feel more confident we’re more willing to:
Take the lead
Disagree with others if we believe we have a valuable perspective
Experiment or try riskier ideas out
Be creative or bolder in our work
We tend to be more persistent when we search for solutions to a problem, and
More likely to have a relaxed or authoritative presence in internal and external meetings
Research suggests that the relationship between confidence, job performance and job satisfaction is bi-directional; when we feel more confident we perform better, we enjoy our jobs more which in turn can increase our confidence and self-esteem (Judge & Bono, 2001).
How confident are you feeling at work?
Here are a few self-reflection questions to help you get a gauge on how your work environment may be affecting your confidence. If your answers average 3 or below then it sounds like your current role and work environment is likely to be taking a toll on your confidence.
In my role I often work on tasks that use my strengths
1 Not at all 5 Almost always
Do you feel respected and valued by your colleagues?
1 Not at all 5 Almost always
Do you feel your manager believes in your potential?
1 Not at all 5 Almost always
If I work hard, I’ll usually be able to solve the problems I face at work
1 Not at all 5 Almost always
Do you feel generally able to do your job well?
1 Not at all 5 Almost always
Do you have a degree of control over the manner in which you do your job?
1 Not at all 5 Almost always
What to do if your job is impacting your confidence
If you start to spot the signs that you’re becoming less confident in a role, the first step is to gain some perspective and separate your current level of confidence from your ability. Think back on previous roles you held or other environments in which you thrived, such as college or university:
How did you feel?
What were the factors that contributed to this being a good environment for you (people, support, intellectual challenge)?
Were you generally able to achieve your goals?
Did you feel capable of solving problems?
How would past colleagues or friends have described you? What would they say your strengths were?
If you’re struggling to answer these questions, you may want to find someone who you trust and who knows you well to talk it through with.
Once you have set aside – even if just temporarily – your self-doubt, your next question is - what’s within your control and what can you influence? What can you do to achieve a change?
Stephen Covey’s Circle of Influence theory and Control Influence Accept Model (CIA) can be a useful tool here. Designed to break a problem down and make it less overwhelming, it identifies three ways to respond to challenges:
Control them: step one is to identify the aspects of your situation which you have direct control over… and in truth this is a short list! We only really have control over ourselves, and most especially the decisions we make over aspects of our lives. You might decide to look for another job or take positive action based on this exercise. Or you might decide to do nothing at all. This is in your control.
Influence them: identify the elements that you can’t control, but that you can influence. This is your Circle of Influence and ‘Other People’ are at the top of this list. Try as we might, we can’t control them, but we can influence others through our behaviour and the relationships we build. Can you speak to your line manager, explore the problems you experience and propose possible solutions? Can you identify a trusted advisor or mentor who can help?
Accept them: identify the elements that you can neither control nor influence and adapt accordingly. This is your Circle of Concern and is by far the greatest. Depending on your seniority (and therefore your Circle of Influence), strategic decisions by senior management in your organisation are an example.
Plan your next step
The most important thing is to take proactive steps and not let a decrease in confidence prevent you from pursuing a career that excites you or from excelling in your role.
Your confidence matters so protect it and if you notice, like I did, that a work environment is taking its toll on you then maybe it's time to act.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
I wrote this piece for the Greenhouse leadership & management blog
