From following my blog, I’m sure you have gotten the sense that I’m not a woman who sits on the sideline watching life go by.  I am engaged with life.  I live a life of action.

Action comes from confidence.  Confidence comes from action.  What initiates everything in my life is my focused intention to be of service to those around me.  This does not mean I attempt to control people or outcomes, which, I have learned, is like beating my head against the wall.

A huge shift for me in my confidence building was not to chase the bright shiny ball, often that next promotion.  It was to adopt the attitude of being of service.  Instead of an attitude of “what’s in it for me” it is “what I can do for you?”

What I have observed is that the people I most enjoy being with at a company are those who are working from a place of service instead of those working from a selfish perspective.

When you operate from a place of service, confidence builds since you are working for the greater good.  When working from a selfish viewpoint, people become hoarders.  They don’t share responsibility, they don’t share recognition and they don’t share knowledge.  A common trait I see with people such as this is that they are never happy where they are at because they are focused on the shiny ball.

When you operate from a place of service you feel good about what you are doing and it shows.  If you are working in a team environment, your knowledge will grow since people are typically learning to better themselves and those around them.  You can build confidence in your new abilities because you have increased your knowledge and value within the organization AND if something comes up that you don’t know … you do have ‘go to’ people to get the answers you need.

What follows on its heels is opportunity.

I have focused my intentions to be of service when asked.  How this translates into my job is having the vision of what is possible, doing the research necessary and presenting my ideas to the appropriate people.

I have had ideas that have taken off.  I have had ideas that died.  I have had ideas that the organization wanted but they just weren’t ready.  What is common to all my ideas is my confidence level in my belief that they are the right direction for the organization.  What is also common to all is that I don’t make this a personal crusade; I am merely the person carrying the torch for the time being.

When I can separate my personal emotion from my work, my confidence stays in tack.  What this means is if a project is killed, I do not take it personally.  If an idea takes off and is handed over to another person to execute, I do not take it personally. I am merely passing the torch over.

What has resulted is that my career takes off.  I can point to numerous examples of when my attitude of service versus personal gain has built my confidence level and has gained respect and recognition from folks further up in management.  I have been given projects and opportunities because my focus is not me, my focus is being of service.

My confidence in my ability has opened doors for me in my organization that I never knew existed.  When the doors open, I confidently walk through them knowing that I will intuitively know how to handle situations.