Vanessa Van Edwards explains how confidence creates a loop that leads to power. A small boost in confidence makes you act more effectively, earning positive feedback that increases your confidence further, which leads to more responsibility and actual power. Albert Bandura's research on self-efficacy shows this cycle compounds over time.
I call this the power-confidence loop. Do powerful people feel more confident, or do confident people get more power? I'm gonna actually argue that it starts with confidence. So researcher Albert Bandura at Stanford University found that leaders start with confidence. If someone feels a little bit of confidence, they have this spark. What Bandura found is that that little bit of confidence can trigger you to also be more effective. You get to work, and in your morning meeting, you make a really, really good comment. Comment. That makes you feel even more confident, and so that in turn gives you even more positive feedback. Then the next time around, you're going throughout the rest of your day and your boss says, you know, I'm gonna put you as lead on that new client project. And then all of a sudden you get power. Well, now you have this position of power and you're like, wow, I'm feeling really good. I'm really confident in my skills. I'm really confident in my job. And so then you have even more amazing moments, and then that contributes to even more good days.
