Confidence
by Roger (Rocky) Noe

"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle-VICTORIOUS”
Vince Lombardi

Napoleon Hill called it "Definite Purpose". The primary thing that one aims for. He said you get your big idea and you sleep with it, eat with it, and take it with you every where you go. He also called it the "Positive Mental Attitude". What is it that he spoke of? It is a burning desire to achieve. Some people have it. There are many that do not. What is it that allows some to have it, while others do not?

I think that all people have an innate desire to achieve. Everybody wants to be good at something. Everybody wants to belong to something. That is why we have so many civic organizations, ball teams, clubs, lodges, and so forth. People want to belong, they want to achieve. Napoleon Hill made his fame and fortune teaching "The science of Personal Achievement" He claimed to learn his philosophy from the great achievers of his era. These included the greatest business leaders and politicians of the 20th Century. Napoleon Hill claimed that they possessed special qualities that could be taught to anyone and this could make anyone successful.

Napoleon Hill claims that there is a system that one can learn. This system is having a big idea and pursuing it. I believe the real message is that one has to believe in their idea. More importantly, one has to believe in themselves. Being an old football player, I have always been enamored with coaches and athletes that seemed to always get more out of themselves and others than others thought to be possible. There are many that come to mind. However, the one that intrigues me the most is Vince Lombardi

Vince Lombardi did not possess more skill or knowledge than the rest of the coaches in the league, yet he dominated the league for most of his career. In fact, the championship trophy is named in his honor. When you study his tactics and game plans they were not magical. Really, they were quite simple. He believed if you out performed the man you were competing with, you would win. You can't get much more simple than that. There is nothing magical about that. He believed a group of well trained, well disciplined men of average ability, could consistently out perform a group of men with superior talent. There are no great revelations in that. He believed this to be true on a football field, a battlefield, and in a business environment.

If there was any magic to Lombardi’s method, it lay in the fact that he had an uncanny ability to get others to believe. They believed in his system, their teammates, and themselves. They had a confidence that transcended their abilities. When that confidence ripened, it brought so many more qualities along with it. It turned into loyalty, comraderie, determination, and a will to win. I think those are the qualities of true champions.

 Confidence in your product, confidence in your mates, confidence in yourself. If you have it you can conquer much. if you lack it you can be conquered by much.  If confidence infects your organization the outcomes will be a sense of competence and growth. if your organization lacks it, no matter how much talent fills the office, there will be struggles.

Sometimes we get too caught up in the study of statistics and game plans. I am not suggesting that we should trivialize these aspects. I am saying that unless the people buy into and believe in the product, the system, and the methods of delivering them, they will not give their best effort. I don't think the value of confidence in the workplace can be emphasized enough.

About the Author
Roger (Rocky) Noe is a founding member of Rattle-The-Cage.com. You can view his bio here. He can be contacted at roger.noe@rattle-the-cage.com