As a management consultant at Accenture in South Africa, many students, graduates, and aspiring consultants ask me how they can maintain confidence throughout their consulting journey. Truth is, I am still trying to figure it out myself.
As an extroverted individual with a bubbly and outgoing personality, I have always had the ability to bring people together and get people to buy into the current plan. However, consulting is a slightly different ballgame. Due to the imposter syndrome, many consultants face an unrelenting inability to believe that their position is deserved, and initially struggle to incorporate their usual confidence into a professional setting. This also happened to me. For example, many of my early projects were quite intimidating because of the caliber and experience of the other individuals on the team and my own young age.
Only after identifying the root cause of the imposter syndrome, will things start to turn around, and your confidence return. We often tend to compare ourselves to others and their accomplishments. Consulting firms focus more on skills and attributes rather than credentials which is why consultants tend to come from varied backgrounds. Comparison can lead you to forget that our journeys aren’t the same and that you also worked just as hard as the next person to earn your rightful seat at the consulting table.
You can start to regain your confidence in simple ways. By shifting your focus from the negative to the positive, identifying your distinct characteristics, and pinpointing what you want to be remembered for. You can also do more research on the specific client and project you are working on to equip you to ask better question and engage in discussions with the client.
Here are three confidence boosting tips that you may find helpful.
1. Understand your strengths
What are your distinct characteristics? What makes you stand out from the crowd? What do people admire the most about you? It can sometimes be difficult to figure out your natural strengths, so you might want to try rephrasing the question. What do other people appear to be naturally bad at? These are the kinds of questions you can ask yourself to help you identify your strengths and figure out where you can strategically place yourself within each project.
2. Let experience be your guide
Use your past experiences and projects as a starting point to build and boost your confidence. Build a portfolio of case samples based on your previous projects. Through your project work, you will be able to identify over time which teams, projects, and managers bring out the best in you and make you feel most comfortable.
3. Be active within your workplace
Above and beyond your immediate line of work, participate in workshops and training sessions. Your firm might have training sessions that deal with storytelling, design thinking, and problem-solving. Ensure that you are learning transferable skills that you can use in project work, but also make sure that you are adding value by engaging in the content through discussions or asking questions. Engage as much as you can. Offer your opinion with confidence, but always be willing to change your position if presented with new data or perspectives.
The bottom line
Do not “fake it till you make it”, instead understand that confidence is both a long-term goal and a daily task. To misquote the late Zig Ziglar, an American motivational speaker, “people often say that confidence doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing, that’s why we recommend it daily.” The hard work and daily discipline that got you into consulting is the same work that will ensure you are successful going forwards.
Thanduxolo Love Mtsweni, is a Management Consultant Analyst at Accenture in South Africa. She holds a Bachelor of Administration in International Relations and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management (PDM- Business Administration). She is passionate about empowering the youth, educating and advocating for better youth employment opportunities.
Image: Pexels
🔴 Interested in consulting?