Power play: Confidence is gold

Each day entrepreneur Rose Herceg presents a how-to power tip that challenges the typical Machiavellian theories of power. This is the Power Playbook: your quick-fix guide to influencing people – in a good way.

Power Players radiate a type of confidence that is incredibly attractive.

It isn’t the kind that is arrogant. It’s the kind that makes you feel that everything is under control.

Aspiring Power Players work on their confidence game because they know that confidence is a critical ingredient when leading a team.

People in that team need to believe that their Power Playing leader knows what he or she is doing. We all like to follow people who know where they are going.

Many of us worry that if we flex our confidence muscle we’ll come across as smug or cocky. Being a confident, articulate, decisive Power Player isn’t smug. It’s exactly what is required to become a well-regarded leader.

Start exercising your confidence skills today and get used to sounding authoritative and speaking up when it comes time to lead. No great Power Player ever got to the top by being shy or coy. And indecision is a highly unattractive quality in any would-be leader.