In a recent interview episode of Through the Marketing Lens, I spoke with Lindsey Lathrop all about confidence how it ties into your business growth.
For those that don't know Lindsey here is little about her:
Lindsey Lathrop (she/her) is a certified coach, gender equity consultant, entrepreneur, and certified #IamRemarkable Google trainer. Lindsey's coaching empowers women and underrepresented groups to practice negotiation and self-promotion skills in the workplace and beyond. Her passion for equity and inclusion led her to co-found a consultancy to engage business leaders to explore their biases and shape inclusive and engaging workplace cultures.
This episode has so many great nuggets and I highly recommend listening to the whole thing at the bottom of this page!
Here are some of the biggest takeaways...
What gets in the way of women being self-promotional?
What is a #IamRemarkable Facilliator and why is it important?
What can women do to increase their comfort with the spotlight?
How can we find an amplification buddy?
I'm going to dive into each of these a little bit here, but you should absolutely listen to the episode to hear all the incredible value that Lindsey brought to us here at Through The Marketing Lens.
Why aren't women more self-promotional?
This is something sooo many women struggle with. Most of us aren't born with confidence. It's something we have to learn. We all need some kind of coach. We need to learn to build credibility. It's so that we can negotiate and feel better about self-promotion.
You can make such a bigger impact if you know and become aware of places you're downplaying yourself. People tend to think self-promotion is yucky. It ultimately is really just marketing yourself. Studies have found that 70% of women would rather minimize their success. Sometimes you have to trick your brain into believing you can do it. I know it's cheesy but the ole' phrase fake it til you make it really rings true.
What is #IamRemarkable?
It is an initiative started by two women that worked at Google. They introduced a simple activity in which they set a timer and had everyone write down ways they felt remarkable. At the end they each shared a few out loud.
People struggle to share ways they are remarkable out loud. All these perceptions still exist about women being bossy or aggressive for speaking up about their successes. Doing this is such a smart business move and can help you align with your business brand. How cool is this?
How can women get more comfortable with the spotlight?
You have to learn to be comfortable by putting yourself out there. This is what Lindsey said is confidence to her:
"Confidence is more around knowing you have your own back. Like, even if you put something out there and it flops, you're not gonna die. Like, you're gonna be stronger for it. And that's how you build confidence, it's like, you can't just wait around for the sparkle to come.
Some days we have that for sure like some days I wake up and I feel good like I'm loving on myself. They're gonna happen but those are the days where I start to create a batch content, you know, I'll write like five different blog posts are all do voice memos and then transcribe them and create them into blog posts and repurpose that content, because I'm feeling good."
In other words, take comfort in knowing that even the most embarrassing flop you could make will not kill you. You'll always have your own back. Failure is inevitable and leads to growth.
Point #4: How can we find an amplification buddy?
You need an amplification buddy in your business. Those are people who endorse you and support you and your small business. You can be strategic about who those people are. This can be considered things like reviews and social proof.
Most people are worried about bothering people. That has to stop. Do you feel bothered by other businesses, or feel bothered if a business you've been involved with is asking you for something? No, probably not. You have to change this narrative because you want your business to make an impact.
Flip the scenarios in your head and think if the tables were turned would I be ok if someone was promoting this or that or asking you for something. Sometimes being uncomfortable for one minute will help you succeed and find the next person to help.
These are all really good strategies, and you can dive into the episode with Lindsey and get all the details and tips we couldn't fit in this post. There are so many gems in there and processes you can add to your business today to help you gain confidence!
