The person with confidence is the person we turn to when problems of any kind arise. One of the chiefs I interviewed put it this way: “The CEO weapon of choice is a display of self-confidence.”
In the business press, confident-appearing CEOs are written about with descriptions like these:
- “He spoke with such tremendous confidence and certainty, as if he’d seen, understood, and known everything from the beginning.”
- “She is an island of dignified calm; . . . . looks like suppressed power.”
- “He was a man with a made-up mind.”
- “She is extroverted without being self-aggrandizing; clearly comfortable in her own skin and intellect.”
- “He is confident, though not cocky; intelligent, but not conceited; . . . a calm, easy manner; . . . a leader for our age because he delivers outstanding results without seeking fame.”
- “He is a distinctly new creature: the CEO who is celebrated for being uncelebrated; . . . while he shuns self-promotion, he’s charismatic.”
- “He is a still person even in motion; . . . he walks as if he has all the time in the world yet still manages to cover ground quickly.”
- “He has a certain understanding of self and doesn’t try to put on airs. You can sit down and have a conversation with him, and he doesn’t try to impress you. He has a curiosity to learn and to explain and not think a lot about himself.”
- “He is not in it for his ego. He’s actually in it to do good.”
Seems like a goal worth going for!
