We recently held a webinar to discuss how you can build your confidence and be more assertive at work. Our panellists came together to address the topic of ‘confidence,’ assessing factors that can affect this, what confidence really means, and how to measure your confidence.
Event panellists
We were joined by mental health expert speaker and coach, Ross McWilliam, from Mindset Pro. Ross draws on his personal experiences and career in coaching to support others. He has 30 years of expertise coaching young people and business leaders on mental health and resilience.
Alongside Ross was Kaplan’s very own Jenny Pelling. Jenny is the Director of Apprenticeship Development and Diversity, a Wellbeing Lead at Kaplan and a qualified Mental Health First Aider. She is also the lead at Kaplan for “Brighter Futures,” which focuses on the social mobility of apprenticeships.
Key topics discussed
What does confidence mean
Ross breaks down the meaning of confidence as not being afraid to think, feel or do things in a certain way. He provides many examples of actions or qualities that people may harness if they’re confident, with one example being someone who knows they can be quiet in a room full of people without feeling intimidated.
Branching out on the term ‘confidence,’ Ross also highlights what emotional confidence means, and we can work to be aware of other people’s feelings when allowing them the opportunities to speak in certain situations.
Factors that can affect our confidence
Ross draws upon factors such as a person’s upbringing, education, and/or mental health which can all be considered to have an impact on someone’s confidence in life.
He expands on this by suggesting that how we view the world will also affect someone’s confidence, which is also influenced by factors such as professional or social environments.
How to develop your confidence
Moving on in the discussion, Ross provides tips and advice on how people can develop their confidence. Examples include learning how to think positive thoughts, how cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) can help you view things in a different light, and how you can follow acceptance commitment therapy (ACT) to accept and reduce any fears that you have.
Solution focused therapy
Talking through solution focused therapy, Ross explains ‘the miracle question.’ This is a thought provoking exercise that questions how confident you would be if you had no worries at all.
“If you can put some of that worry to one side, your true personality will come out.”
This exercise is often used in solution-focused therapy, and highlights that growth is possible if we focus on reducing our fears, worries and concerns.
In a nutshell, the miracle question is: how would you start thinking about the world if all your worries and concerns were gone, and how would you behave?
Smart resilience
Jenny and Ross then move the conversation on to comparing the words resilience and adaptability.
To explain the point, Ross draws upon examples of reputable people who have demonstrated resilience and/or adaptability.
“Resilience is not just for surviving the worst day of your life, it's for thriving every day of your life.”
How to be assertive
Ross talks about ways we can be assertive to resolve conflict by talking through seven principles. He covers methods of reflection and provides tips on how we can do this when we approach any conflict in work.
Aside from reflection, Ross also explains how we can use effective communication to be assertive but still professional, respectful, and effective.
Questions
Both Jenny and Ross answer several questions that are asked in the chat panel.
Well-being resources at Kaplan
If you need any support while studying or with your general well-being, we have support available to you.
At Kaplan, many of our staff are mental health first aiders. If you think you’d benefit from some of our well-being and mental fitness resources, have a browse through our learner well-being page where you can find the relevant people to speak to if you need some advice and support.
If you are an apprentice, you can also get in touch with your Talent Coach for the link to the Learning My Way microsites where you can find resources.
You can also get more advice by:
If you do have any safeguarding concerns, please raise this by contacting our Safeguarding Team at safeguarding@kaplan.co.uk.