Confident At Work Podcast

There are specific challenges when you are the one in the family who goes first. In this episode we explore the hidden reality for those people who dont always feel like they fit in at their organisation or notice the differences between them and their colleagues. If that's you, this episode will be a support, if it's not you, it's time to learn about how it might feel for some of the people around you.

Tune in to learn how to recognise and address the toxic boss you didn't know you had. We explore how to identify and navigate and transform an unnoticed kind toxicity in the workplace; the toxic inner boss so you can feel more confident at work.

We explore the essential skill of sending effective work emails with expert Kim Arnold. Kim emphasises the importance of connecting with recipients rather than trying to impress them, the significance of understanding your audience's perspective and shares insights on what goes wrong when low confidence writes an email! Tune in to discover practical tips for mastering this crucial aspect of professional communication.

In this episode, we tackle the often overlooked subtle emotions that can disrupt your workday and explore a practical strategy you can use to support yourself and maintain your productivity even in the emotional moments.

Ever wonder why some people excel at project planning and others struggle just to stay organised? Delve into the fascinating world of executive functions, explore your brain's executive control centre and uncover the secrets to boosting your focus, organisation, and productivity at work.

I have an alternative approach to self-kindness which might help you actually apply it to your working life. If you know you need to be kind to yourself, but struggle to actually do it, this episode is for you.

This is a conversation about changing direction your career . Lydia shares how she has gone from realising the career path she thought she was on might have to change and struggling to come to terms with it, to exploring her options and testing them out!

Almost 700 of you have taken the quiz to find out whether you are in a low confidence cycle and contributed to a dataset which sheds light on the unconscious habits habits which keep us stuck feeling less confident than we want. Find out what 86% of you are doing that is keeping you stuck in a low confidence cycle at work!

Sharing simple exercises for you to review your 2023 so you can get the clarity you need to plan for an awesome 2024!

Here's how I can support you in 2024:

In this episode I am sharing 12 simple habits which you can adopt to build and maintain your confidence at work.

Do you find it difficult to switch off from work in the holidays? In this week's episode we ask why, and how you could do things differently; if you want to!

It's December and we are celebrating! But are you celebrating yourself and the people you work with enough? Celebrating your work is motivating, and confidence boosting. Find out how celebrating and confidence and intertwined in this week's episode.

Are you stuck in a low confidence cycle?

After analysing hundreds of Confidence Coaching sessions with successful professionals across various industries, I identified the specific habits that create low confidence at work.

We all know workplace culture can impact confidence, wellbeing and productivity, but this week we dig into an ever-present topic which goes totally unnoticed in our workplaces; our own internal culture.

Join Anna Collins, Divisional Nurse Director and I for a conversation about workplace culture, external and internal and the impact both cultures have on our working lives.

Lots of work around confidence is actually aimed at helping you mask low confidence by mimicking confidence; wearing a power suit, speaking in the right kind of way, focusing on 'executive presence'. I am not up for helping you mask low confidence with presentation 'tricks'. I am here to help you look behind the mask, find out why you dont feel as confident as you deserve and work there to help you feel confidence v. look confident.

Mimicking confidence keeps you stuck in a low confidence cycle and have you constantly having to 'mask' it. Developing authentic confidence requires a different approach and one which ultimately means you dont have to mimic confidence anymore; because you actually feel it inside. Listen on to find out how.

Exploring a pitfall of perfectionism - my client wanted to coaching because he was feeling a lack of confidence around leading a particular task at work. During the call we identified some interesting things, that he was beating himself up for not handling it to the appropriate standard, and that the standard could not, in fact, ever be met. An extract from his coaching call is shared in this week's episode with his kind permission.

Lots of people feel nervous networking. This week I am sharing 3 tips from my experience of coaching professionals to help you feel more confident and calmer while networking.

If you are taking things personally at work and its impacting your confidence, this episode is for you! We explore peroanl and client examples of why we take things personally, what happens when we do and what you can do about it.

You’re in the job, you got the promotion, no one is complaining...but you have a sneaky little thought in your mind which is creating overworking, over-stressing and overthinking and over-checking….I need to prove myself.

In this week's episode we explore what happens when you think you need to prove yourself and what you can do if you are believing the thought I need to prove myself.

If I am a senior leader I am supposed to be totally confident, know everything and have it all together at all times, right? These are just some of the beliefs which can create havoc for more senior leaders confidence. Listen in to this episode to find out four confidence challenges leaders face when they become more senior and how they can be overcome.

Anna chats with her life coach, Jess Leroux about in-being and being a more outspoken feminist on behalf of her clients. Contact Jess if you need a life coach, she comes highly recommended: heckyescoachjess@gmail.com

Doing new things at work can be hard. You might want to take that new opportunity, help with that new project or say yes to a piece of work, but what if you dont feel confident doing it? Listen to this week's episode to find out why you might be feeling less than confident when it comes to doing new things at work, and how you can think differently in order to feel more confident, and try it!

Does your brain go blank at work sometimes? Mine does. It's actually pretty common. Listen into this week's episode for what you can do to support yourself when your brain goes blank and how to reduce the chances of it happening in the first place.

Beating yourself up in order to 'improve yourself' and ensure that you do your best at work? It is a very common tactic, but does it work? In this episode we look into whether beating yourself up is an effective form of self-management including finding out what the research says!

Do you want to feel more confident at work? Are you technically good at your job but find you privately lack the self-belief and confidence which should come with it? You've found the right place.

Every client I worked with was good at their job, but they still didn't feel as confident as they wanted. And they didn't really understand why.

Anna was interviewed Zoë Haydn Jones for the Jobs for Women Podcast and we are sharing that interview here! Join us to dive into all things confidence in professional spaces.

Anna shares her career pathway and choices, my moments of self-doubt, victories, and passion for helping others improve their own confidence and we delve into many issues faced by many professionals today. From women grappling with the gap between their evident competence and confidence to the underrecognised role of internal dialogues and self-perception in shaping professional confidence, and even addressing children’s fears around societal judgement – this conversation is a comprehensive exploration of confidence in today’s world.

Anna and Zoe engage in a thought-provoking discussion about the importance of introspective work to overcome confidence obstacles, underlining the universality of these struggles due to shared human brain behavior patterns. Anna shares the secret behind her process to supporting clients to transform their confidence, by first helping them to transform their “internal environment” into a nurturing and supportive one, from which, confidence grows naturally.

Delve into this enlightening episode, as Anna Manning and Zoe Haydn Jones unpack the significance of self-awareness, self-perception, and positive internal dialogue in fostering a more confident, resilient, and successful professional identity.

Lots of people feel uncomfortable talking about themselves, the work that they have done and the success they have had. But there’s times when it’s necessary and times when it’s helpful to you and your career. This episode will help you discover why you find it difficult and what you can do to make it a little bit easier.

All leaders and managers have to give feedback at work, and sometimes it feels difficult. In this episode we dig into why it can be difficult to give feedback, I share examples from coaching leaders on giving difficult feedback and share some ideas for you can develop your ability to give difficult feedback.

I hear this a lot I know logically I am good at my job or I know deep down that I am good at my job, but.... What do you do when, even when you know logically you are good at your job, some part of you doesn't believe it, doubts it, or questions it? It can erode your confidence and exhaust you. But it can change. If you know logically or deep down that you are good at your job, but you dont feel the confidence that should go with it, you can work through it so you are free to believe, I am good at my job. It will leave you free focus on the challenges work brings you, and not spend all your time dealing with the doubt on the inside!

Meet Daniela, a Senior Healthcare Scientist in the NHS and graduate of the Confident at Work Programme.

This week we hear what has changed for Daniela in the two years since she joined the Confident at Work programme. She shares her fear of making presentations, over-preparing, struggles with speaking up in meetings, saying no and how things have changed at work and at home, now her confidence has grown.

Self-criticism is factor needs to be addressed if you want to grow your confidence but clients often worry that if they are not self-critical, they wont learn from their mistakes. This week I found out through experience that I didn't have to be self-critical in order to learn from my mistake, and you dont either.

Resilience, our capacity to withstand or recover from difficulties. I am sharing my struggles with resilience so you can learn from my mistakes! Listen in to find out how I grew my resilience and pick up some ideas on how you can be more resilient too.

Every year I coach people who are excited to have got a promotion, but somewhere along the line the excitement turns to worry, doubt and fear. Will I be able to do the job? What happens if I get something wrong! I need to know everything (and I dont) are common thinking errors which I see creating a lot of worry and fear before, or, when taking on a new role. Join me to find out what is going on behind the scenes of your mind when the excitement turns to fear, and how you can start out feeling more confident in your new job.

Whether you lead people or not, you are always supervising, managing and leading someone; you. In this episode I explain how we can, inadvertently be leading ourselves badly the impact that can have on you and your people, and how that can change. I share my own story of how I used to supervise, manage and lead myself, and how that has changed.

I get nervous. Always have done. Probably always will do. But I have learned how to handle myself when I get nervous - a vital skill for anyone who puts themselves out of their comfort zone! In this episode I share a recent example of an event where I felt nervous, and I share how I handled myself before, during and after the event for maximum confidence.

Lara is a former client and coaching and mentoring advocate. In this episode Lara talks candidly about her career, navigating leadership, diversity and we chat about being on a charity Board and looking to move into Non-Executive roles. 

If you are struggling with confidence stuff at work hear this; there is nothing wrong with you. It's a normal, but usually hidden, thing that lots of people experience and just dont talk about.

You've got double standards, and it's hurting your confidence! Listen on to find out what double standards you might have lurking inside and how they might be impacting your confidence and what you can do to change it.