So you are committed to your team and you are working really hard.

So you are committed to your team and you are working really hard.

What is another ingredient that helps take you to the next level?

Confidence.

You often hear coaches of professional teams talk about confidence and how it is that ingredient that is so vital for you and your team to be successful.  During the course of the year, you have lots of challenges. How you react and how you deal with the challenges will define your leadership.

Some people misread confidence for being cocky or over-confident.  If you have a clear sense of who you are and what your strengths are your leadership potential is unlimited.

On page 41 in Jeff Janssen's The Team Captain’s Leadership Manual there are four questions.

                1)      How comfortable are you with yourself and who you are as a person?

                2)      How much importance do you put on what others think of you?

                3)      What do you stand for? What are you all about?

                4)      Can you do/say what is right even though it might go against the crowd?

It takes a bit of maturity to answer these questions honestly.  Take some time this week to consider your answers.

If you are not feeling as confident as you would like, what can you do about it?

(If you do not have the book - here is the link to get it...

http://www.janssensportsleadership.com/resources/leadership-for-captains/)

Jeff Janssen provides a Strengthening Your Confidence Worksheet on page 44 of the manual.  Take some time to do this exercise.  Remember - it is your preparation, your strengths and your past successes that help build your confidence.  But here is something that really hit home with me - you can build your confidence by building up your teammates.  Praise your teammates when they are doing the right things in practice, in games, in the locker room, in study hall, in class, everywhere!

Be positive, Be Supportive, Be firm!

Confidence is contagious and it helps your build up the ability to recover quickly when things don’t go as planned (some people call them failures; I like to call them teachable moments!)

Remember that teachable moments are Temporary, Localized and Changeable!

Spend some time reviewing the manual and take chapter three really to heart. 

It will have a super-positive impact on you and your team and as this poem states – confidence is a single ember deep within you.  Have a great week!

The Fire Inside

by Anonymous

When all is lost and hope has fled When fear is strong and strength is dead When love and joy abandon you When mental anguish grows in you When the last of efforts fail to save When your fate is ill, your mind enslaved And when your head hangs low in misery This is when you'll find the key A single ember from deep within Burns hotter and hotter, as flames begin The fire of truth will light the way And help you fight, this lonely day The battle is long, the struggle is rough Never regret not giving enough For when we offer our very best, Our very soul is put to the test Stand tall and true and you'll prevail Just hold on tight and never bail You will survive if you don't quit Victory is there, if you reach for it One day in the future, you will look to the past, And know you had what it takes to last So never give up and good things will come, Not just honor and pride, but a job well done.