“Do you believe in me?” That is the question that most employees want to ask and get the answer from their managers, but they won’t ask it.
Why won’t they ask the question? They are too afraid to hear the answer. Instead, they create stories of what their manager might be thinking…”What if my manager has stopped seeing my potential or doesn’t think I am ready for the next level?” So instead of simply asking the question, they will try to figure out what their perception is based on the comments, feedback, or performance review ratings that they receive. Let’s go through the worst case scenario of asking the question. The answer is “no, I don’t see you going to the next level.” Not what you wanted to hear, but now you know where you stand. What do you want to do about it? Here are three possible options:
- You leave the company and do the same things that you have been doing which may or may not work at the next company.
- You stay, do nothing different and accept that your manager must be right about you.
- You stay and start to immediately take different actions to show your manager that they are wrong about you and that you have tremendous potential for more.
Which one would you choose?
- Overconfident people will choose the first option and try their luck somewhere else.
- Underconfident people will choose the middle option because they don’t believe in themselves and assume their manager knows everything.
- People who believe in themselves will choose the last option despite their manager not seeing their potential.
If you are willing to choose the last option, just know that everyone is going to have an opinion. Whether or not someone believes in you isn’t necessary for you to have success. However, it is so important that you believe and trust yourself! You need to operate in a way that is focused on playing bigger and building a network of people who do believe in you. Your manager is one opinion. Imagine if you started taking action and doing so well that everyone else talked about how great you are. Your manager’s one opinion isn’t such a big deal now, is it?
Ask your manager the question of how you are perceived and if they believe in you. You need to know where you stand and stop hiding. Be brave, bold, speak up, and start sitting at the table. Your actions will change how people see you.
Show those around you what you can do, spend time with the people in your life that believe in you, and never ever stop believing in yourself.
If you need my support to build up the belief in yourself, please set up a time with me. When I tell people that I believe that they can do something, they will get emotional. It may be the first time that they have heard it. Sometimes it just takes one person to say they believe in you to help you take incredible actions!