Use learning and development to help associates develop confidence

Confidence is a central feature of any successful firm: confidence of clients in the firm's performance, confidence in its leadership and the personal confidence of its individuals. Each is inextricably linked and can be supported by learning and development (L&D), but only if we are clear about what we mean when we talk about confidence.

The starting place is usually personal confidence. I sometimes wonder whether the partners and managers who say that certain individuals lack confidence believe that those individuals do not have the skills to do their jobs to the required standard or that they are seen to be deficient in their ability to communicate effectively.

Confidence is a word which regularly features in performance review or appraisal documents. It's a little like the porridge in the fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears - it will be too much confidence for some, not enough for others and just right for the rest. What do partners and managers expect when they speak about confidence?

Defining expectations

L&D managers will on the whole find it difficult to tackle confidence as a development area unless they are defining it as a cohesive set of skills and tackling them individually. Saying that an associate 'lacks confidence' is not sufficiently explicit if a change in that person's approach or behaviour is desired. A more diagnostic method exploring performance expectations may be required. This would enable the L&D team to identify the key area(s) which need to be developed and also help the associate to understand where the feedback originated.

In addition to competence and communication, confidence is also made up of the ability to influence others and to have the right level of professional impact. Understanding what you're supposed to do with feedback you've received is an essential step in being able to do something about it. Saying 'you need to develop your confidence' isn't always obvious in terms of the specific activities or behaviours expected.

The context of confidence is also critically important. Is it related to client services, business performance, leadership skills or about the capability of an individual to inspire trust and belief?

Confidence is a feeling - a satisfaction with what one is, plus a reaching out to become more. Confidence is not something a few people are born with and others are not; it is an acquired characteristic and you can learn how to be confident. Confidence is also about balance.

Developing confidence

So how can the L&D team help individuals to develop their confidence?

If you have concerns about the confidence levels of some of your team members, then your role in giving clear and specific feedback is critical. Do they have clarity around the tasks and goal you've asked them to achieve? Do you want them to be clearer when explaining things to clients or colleagues? Are you observing less than desirable non-verbal behaviour in meetings when a 'poker face' is required? Do they need to be more self aware? Do they understand how they come across to others? If not, then focusing on changing behaviours to enhance their performance and reputation is central to developing their confidence.

Reminding your team of their individual strengths and the areas they need to address is the easiest place to start when developing confidence. Simple tools such as a SWOT analysis, writing down the behaviours observed when they are having a good day and a bad or highly pressurised day, coupled with using basic theories such as Johari's Window, can set them on the right path.

Supporting them to determine their own personal brands and to control what they can control, and influencing where influence is possible, is the next step. L&D teams will have access to a range of techniques and workshops to help with this aspect of professional impact. They need to be clear from both the partners' and managers' feedback that their suggested interventions will address the issues previously 'diagnosed'.

Once your team members have clarity of purpose, an appreciation of their personal strengths and weaknesses and have discovered their motivation to be successful, they will begin to demonstrate increased confidence. The decisive step in ensuring that this state is maintained is in developing their ability to listen and ask questions so that others perceive them to be assured and in control of the situation.

Developing these areas generates momentum within a cycle of confidence. If a client has confidence in your associates, they will in turn have confidence in the client's belief in them and will gain greater determination to succeed. When an individual succeeds at work, the firm also enjoys success and attracts new business.

Sue Beavil is the senior learning and development manager at international law firm Mayer Brown (www.mayerbrown.com)