CONFIDENCE 101
Image Credit: Gerrit de Bruin via Re-Emerging Films
What kept me sane was knowing that things would change, and it was a question of keeping myself together until they did.
Nina Simone (1933 – 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Although well-known and critically acclaimed, she only had one song reach the top 20 charts in the U.S. throughout her whole career. However, it was the combination of her powerful, passionate music along with her strong views and activist nature which made Nina Simone an exceptional artist and campaigner for civil rights.
Simone’s activism started young when she refused to play at a recital where her parents were compelled t give up their front row seats to a white couple. Refusing to play until they were reseated, Simone would dedicate her life and career to civil rights.
The thing that set Simone apart from her activist contemporaries like Martin Luther King, Jr. was she was a bigger proponent for violence and swift, decisive action as the method of change in American society. Working tirelessly in the civil rights movement, Simone produced several pieces of music to help inspire and guide as well as speaking and conducting activist work directly.
Radio 6 DJ Rudy Mackay interviews the two ladies about the documentary What Happened Miss Simone about Nina Simone which will be broadcast on Netflix.
CONFIDENCE 101
Confidence is a state of being clear-headed either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective.
We believe in ourselves. We know we will overcome setbacks and succeed. To become confident in our abilities we must view the reality of our skills with clarity, and feel secure in that knowledge.
When we are confident, our credibility, and ability to influence increase. We make good impressions, deal with pressure, and tackle personal and professional challenges. When things are uncertain, confidence helps put others at ease.
Our confidence is not a fixed state. It fluctuates. It depends on our ability, our environment, our sense of psychological safety. Confidence, like empathy, trust, and other qualities, needs to be cultivated. It can be acquired and improved over time.
Our confidence in public speaking can be practiced by giving speeches. We can observe the structure and flow of any presentation before jumping in, and we can prepare talking points or topics to discuss ahead of time.
Anxiety can take hold when we are overcome by self-doubt. Becoming accustomed to the specific situations we fear can assure us that nothing truly bad will happen—we just need more practice.
Our sense of confidence increases as our ability increases. As we gain more skill, we accomplish more. The more, the more—
It's essential to be confident but not over-confident. Respect without fear is the goal—genuine belief in ourselves without being self-centered, intimidated, or naïve.
When teams present and operate with assuredness, it can overtake a room—in a good way. Imagine a lead engineer giving a demo of new technology to the CEO, on stage at a major technology event. Add to that: it's televised. A lot that can go wrong. There are many reasons the engineer or the CEO could lose their composure--internally, between each other, and in front of the crowd. The demo might not work. One of them may forget their script. They might not have worked out a contingency plan. They might not even like each other. But let's assume they both prepared. They knew their lines. The demo was tested, and there was a backup plan. People who are composed, confident, and can cooperate are sure of their potential performance, even before they get started.
Continuing to set and meet goals can enable the belief that we are skilled, capable, and worthy of success.
How do we gain confidence?
PRACTICE
Improve observation skills by increasing awareness and mental toughness.
Gain awareness of feelings, especially difficult feelings, is informative.
Check yourself. What does our inner critic tell us? How does it speak to us? Our first thoughts are not our fault. They are merely how we are wired to cope with our ife’’s circumstances. Our next thoughts are up to us. Limit self-criticism.
Develop fortitude. Mental strength can help us overcome obstacles to develop confidence. Set goals, shift negative thinking to realistic thinking, challenge yourself on a daily basis, and learn to tolerate discomfort.
Practice. Practice. Practice. Set time each day to reflect. Think about how you want your day to go. At the end of the day, consider what you learned. Give thought to what you wish to leave, and what you wish to carry forward into tomorrow.
To answer the following questions, rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 by circling the number that best fits you.
List the times you’ve been most confident in your work. What contributed to that?
Do you feel confident in your current work? with your current team? What is present or missing?
COMMIT
[ ] I commit myself to develop confidence by increasing my self-awareness, checking my inner critic, persevering in the midst of setbacks, and practicing reflection.
FURTHER READING/ WATCHING
The Eunice Waymon-Nina Simone Memorial Project exists to honor the remarkable life, musical legacy, and civil rights activism of Nina Simone, and to inspire and support talented youth to reach their full potential. The Eunice Waymon—Nina Simone Memorial Project (NSP) purposes to establish and promote educational scholarship, to commission a Nina Simone sculpture, and to establish an international music festival in Tryon, North Carolina, with supplemental venues in the broader Western North Carolina region.
The Many Battles of Nina Simone (Article from The New Yorker) How Nina Simone turned the movement into music.
Nina Simone on YouTube (from YouTube) -- Nina Simone music and video.
The Official Home of Nina Simone (from the Estate of Nina Simone) Unbelievable treasure-trove of facts, timelines, archival documents and video footage, sheet music, and music lessons.
In her words…
“I’m a rebel with a cause.”
“To most white people, jazz means black, and jazz means dirt, and that's not what I play. I play black classical music.”
“I'll tell you what Freedom is to me. No fear.”
“You’ve got to learn to leave the table when love’s no longer being served.”
“What kept me sane was knowing that things would change, and it was a question of keeping myself together until they did.”
“Life is short. People are not easy to know. They're not easy to know, so if you don't tell them how you feel, you're not going to get anywhere, I feel.”
“There's no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.”
“I am just one of the people who is sick of the social order, sick of the establishment, sick to my soul of it all. To me, America’s society is nothing but cancer, and it must be exposed before it can be cured. I am not the doctor to cure it. All I can do is expose the sickness.”
“You don't have to live next to me / Just give me my equality.”
“Greed has driven the world crazy. And I think I'm lucky that I have a place over here that I can call home.”
“It is an artist's duty to reflect the times.”
“I have to constantly re-identify myself to myself, reactivate my own standards, my own convictions about what I'm doing and why.”
“I came to expect despair every time I set foot in my own country, and I was never disappointed.”
“They don't know that I'm dead, and my ghost is holding on.”
“Once I understood Bach's music, I wanted to be a concert pianist. Bach made me dedicate my life to music, and it was that teacher who introduced me to his world.”
What we don’t see on the resumes we review or the job descriptions we want is the litany of emotional entanglements we bring to our roles, uninvited, to the team and organizations we work in. Alongside technical skills, people who can master a range of subjective skills are better able to influence, deal with ambiguity, bounce back from setbacks, think creatively, and manage themselves in the presence of setbacks. In short, those who learn lead.
Observing subjective qualities in others past and present gives us a mental picture for the behaviors we want to practice. Each figure illustrates a quality researched from The Look to Craftsmen Project. When practiced as part of our day-to-day, these qualities will help us develop our mastery in our lives and work.