Have you ever met a billionaire? What is it about meeting a billionaire that gives you a natural high? My wife thinks it's the realization that they are simply human, too, just like us. Others have told me it's because you see that they could do it, so why couldn't you?
Twenty years ago, I met a billionaire who was listed on the Forbes list. He and I struck up a short conversation, and that led to a sale I'll tell you about next month. That encounter gave me confidence. How can we get that same confidence boost to lead our team and clients and prospects day in and day out? My theory comes from Doug Carter and John Cunningham's patented process called "The Compass."
The theory is all of us wear memories inside our bodies somewhere in the form of pictures. We can recall those pictures and regain those confident feelings as we bring ourselves back to past successes. We can also boost our confidence as we remember people of influence in our lives who act as a great cloud of witnesses. And, finally, we can gain leadership confidence when we drawn on the power of God.
Pictures of success
Think back to your childhood and remember a few times when you experienced success. Now try to associate that time with one picture that captures the essence of your feelings during that successful event. Is there a specific smell that comes to you back then? Are there distinct sounds in the background or voices in the foreground? Lock in that memory through a specific picture that captures that moment in time.
When I was in fifth grade, I was part of a small group that attended a high school computer class. Back then, we wrote programs through a punch-card reader that hooked up to the University of Wisconsin mainframe computer. We would get responses back through our phone that was hooked up to a large modem. The picture I remember was of that punch-card reader. The sound was the buzzing of the dot-matrix printer and punch-card reader. I remember feeling so bright being part of that high school class with a half dozen other fifth graders. That picture represented intelligence to me.
Now, pause for a moment and recall a few pictures of your childhood successes and write them down on a sheet of paper. This will become your personal picture gallery of success. The walls of your mind will trigger memories about your past successes and bring you a sense of confidence to be a better leader.
Expand this picture gallery to include a few pictures of success from your adult life and also a few pictures of success from this past year.
People of influence
Next, create your great cloud of witnesses. Think about people who have had a positive impact on your life. If you could choose one word that represented each person, what would that word be? For example, my mother represents love to me. My father is persistence, my wife is faithfulness, and God is my fulfillment. How about for you? Write them down and arrange half a dozen people around a circle, like the numbers on a clock. This group of people will become your consulate of advisors. As you remember who they were and how they would have responded to various situations, you are going to receive inspiration and guidance resulting in more confidence.
Power of God
Finally, during times of extreme stress or difficulty, we all need to find strength outside of ourselves to carry on. Drawing upon the fathomless resources of God may just be what you need to strengthen yourself during downward moments in your life.
In 1980, my father's company suffered through a huge fire that burned for three days. He owned a component home manufacturing plant that built and delivered three homes a day throughout five states. He was a multi-millionaire who, at age 52, lost everything.
After the fire was finally extinguished, he walked through the smoldering ashes to see if anything was salvageable. All of his records, files, plans and plaques of success were destroyed. The burnt smell of wood, metal and plastic was strong.
As he walked to the space that used to occupy his desk and chair, he lifted up a piece of ceiling insulation and found the one thing that was not burned. Underneath the wet and charred mass was his Bible, unblemished with the gold edges on the pages still shining and not a trace of smoke odor on it. All of his pictures and plaques burned to ashes, but the Word of God endured.
He told me, "Brent, the things of this world will pass away, but the Word of God lasts forever."
You can build strong leadership confidence by remembering pictures of success, people of influence and drawing from the power of God in your life.
Brent Welch, CFP, ChFC, CLU, is founder and managing member of Welshire Capital LLC. Reach him at www.welshirecapital.com.
