The next three ways that Larina Kase suggests to help turn your problems into opportunities are dealt with in this posting.

Build Supreme Motivation in Yourself and Others

As a confident leader, she suggests, you motivate yourself to get outside your comfort zone to get better results, but you also inspire others to move out of their comfort zones.

Mood is important and contagious and a harmonious climate leads to both inspiration and productivity. The better the energy level and mood of the team, the better the work performance.

The key to growth and success is a mindset that is focused on learning. A fixed mindset entails the belief that you have a specific set of skills and talents that are relatively unchangeable. Self-confidence in fixed mindset people is vulnerable. When the going gets tough, growth-oriented people get going in a positive direction, while fixed mindset people get frustrated and disappointed and move in a negative direction or not at all.

Overcome Procrastination and Boost your Productivity

I think there is a big dollop of procrastination in all of us. I concede there certainly is in me.

Procrastination can be part of your comfort zone so it’s a habit. To break any habit – even a bad one – requires initial discomfort, and you might not be willing to make yourself uncomfortable right now. Even doing something that is purely enjoyable and relaxing can be tough because we feel we are sacrificing work time – and we are not supposed to enjoy what we are doing at work, are we?

Most people are afraid of failing. As a result, we pay it safe, try to do too much, or avoid taking action. The solution, ironically, is to fail. When we allow ourselves to fail, we see it is not as horrible as we had anticipated and that the effects are not so pervasive and long-lasting as we had feared.

We often would rather live with live with a difficult situation than face the uncertainty resulting from resolving it. This is the fear of the unknown – a great procrastinator.

Be Authentic and Project Likability and Confidence

At first glance this suggestion may seem a contradiction in terms. If I am myself, how can anyone ever like me? And this poses a problem for the confident leader, suggests Kase, calling it the ‘Imposture Syndrome’ – you feel that you are ‘acting’ in a leadership position. The imposture syndrome is both a cause and a result of not being a confident leader, she suggests.  Again it boils down to your mindset – what you think – and you can choose what you think.

A key support for this method of turning problems into opportunities, she suggests, is becoming a good listener. If you interrupt and don’t listen to other people’s ideas, you aren’t likable. Is this why you feel your boss is not like-able? Now look in the mirror. What would your staff say about you?

Food for thought.

Bob