Confidence is something that’s not talked about enough in the world of fundraising. Thinking about the hundreds of leaders we’ve coached (and my own growth over 20 years), I would suppose half of the coaching focused on process. And, at least at the outset, half of the coaching focused on building confidence… in one’s self… in the process… in the pitch.
Here is an important finding on the role of confidence in successful sales (and fundraising) from Alex (Sandy) Pentland at the MIT Human Dynamics Lab. In a study where participants were observed making pitches to potential investors Pentland observed that confidence (and commitment) to the idea by the leader were the greatest determining factor in the outcome of the pitch!
Coyle, Daniel. The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups (p. 14). Random House Publishing Group.
“The executives [listening to the pitches] thought they were evaluating the plans based on rational measures, such as: How original is this idea? How does it fit the current market? How well developed is this plan?” Pentland wrote. “While listening to the pitches, though, another part of their brain was registering other crucial information, such as: How much does this person believe in this idea? How confident are they when speaking? How determined are they to make this work? And the second set of information—information that the business executives didn’t even know they were assessing—is what influenced their choice of business plans to the greatest degree.”
I would want an immediate takeaway to be that confidence is important! We need to talk about confidence. We need to coach our teams around their confidence. We need to create an environment where it’s okay for someone to say, “I need to work on my confidence.”
Rarely do I see a leader ask, “What is your confidence level?” Or a sales person say to a leader, “I need your help with confidence.”
Tomorrow I’m going to share three insights to further address finding confidence.
