During some recent coaching training my cohort and trainers have been really supportive, make insightful observations and ask such thought-provoking questions - it's a great example of the power of leveraging the wisdom of the group.

This steep learning curve that we're on has made me reflect on the impact of self-doubt on our outcomes both as individuals and as teams.

I had lots of moments of doubt in even selecting this course, including the high price tag and how I'd make the time in my schedule.

And now, as we practice our freshly learned skills in front of the group and hear feedback on a daily basis, we're invited to be vulnerable, step into the unknown and trust the process in order to grow.

Whilst it's an intense learning environment, it's certainly one that bears fruit.

And the bolder we are, the more we overcome self-doubt and lean into the discomfort, the faster the progress!

So in this week's Summer Snippet, I've got a few thoughts on self-doubt to share with you and a tool I recommend to cultivate a culture of boldness within your team.

Fortune Favours the Bold

Many leaders have been telling me that in the current climate they're noticing more hesitation in their workplace.

Hesitation in their leaders, in their colleagues and within themselves when it comes to decision-making.

Self-doubt is fuelled by the stories we tell ourselves about how something's not possible and how we'll fail and get rejected.

It's often smart people that struggle with this most because they're really good at predicting all of the possible negative outcomes, so they never take action -> analysis paralysis.

That's why I believe that boldness is a stronger predictor of success than intelligence.

Bold people think of all the good things that will happen when things go right.

Of course smart people can be bold and vice versa, but boldness is the secret sauce of success.

It's not something you're born with - it's a skill you can harness.

The 10% target

There's a mindset I learnt from a fitness coach that I've applied to many areas of my life to great success - it's called The 10% Target.

I encourage teams and individuals to use this tool because it's very effective at building people's boldness muscles.

It's super simple - whatever you want most, you make 10 attempts at making it a reality.

This could be anything from getting funding on a project released to getting someone you admire to collaborate with you.

It does two things;

1. It makes you comfortable with failing 90% of the time.
2. It gives you the resilience and the skill to be comfortable asking for what you want or need help with.

It’s always successful because you’ll either achieve your goal or discover something that you didn't even know was available.

It makes you suitably demanding - this is a phrase that I live by.

It helps me to chase what I want and not just take what I can get.

As a leader, I always instilled this in my teams - when at first they didn't succeed, I encouraged them to try a different angle and go again.

It's the only way innovation happens. We have to be willing to try, to push, to go boldly.

So my invitation to you this week is to try it for yourself.

Set an intention and 10x it!

Most people won't do it.

But you're not most people, right?!

It's entirely up to you, but if you do, please share your experience with me - I'd love to hear from you and even share it with the growing Art After Dark community.

Sketch🖼️

This week I sketched a little duckling because my son showed me a nature video where lots of ducklings boldly jumped out of a tree to follow their mother.

This really captures the spirit of a leader encouraging their team to be bold!