Yesterday, a client asked me to give him a ‘pep talk’ of sorts as he moved into 2023. I was delighted to accommodate his request. After all, this client is results oriented, intelligent, diligent and innovative. His constituents feel great about him as a leader. At the end of the conversation, I challenged him to move toward that which he resists – conflict. This is his growing edge as a leader. We all have a growing edge. This could be a blind spot or an area, where we know we need to improve.
According to research, one of the determinants of self-efficacy (our belief in ourselves or our skills to accomplish a task) is verbal persuasion. Verbal persuasion includes words of encouragement used to instill belief and confidence in another. As I was thinking about this determinant of self-efficacy I wondered how frequently do we intentionally seek to encourage those around us.
As a leader, I think it is one of the essential duties and opportunities or even privileges of our role. Here are three ways you can use verbal persuasion to build confidence in your team:
1.) Verbally Affirm Strengths
2.) Publicly Praise
3.) Use Words To Challenge
Each of these types of verbal persuasion approaches can instill self-efficacy in others.