Those worth their salt in communications know that the surest way to get attention for their clients is to convince them to take a contrarian approach. Newbie stock analysts do that all the time. If the price of Apple is soaring they will publish a piece in Seeking Alpha about how Apple is not only over-valued but will crash to double digits.
So, we have to wonder if that's the strategy Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is taking in the HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW. He contends that the key to success is low self confidence. Okay, he got us listening. Then come his arguments. Mmmm. We wonder.
He states that those lacking in confidence will heed feedback and thus improve their performance. Most of us found that not to be true. Often those without confidence tend to defend themselves by not paying attention to the signals from the outside world. The less and less confident they become the more shut-down they are.
On the other hand, the most confident among us are not only open systems but they believe in themselves enough to filter out what's useful from what's not useful. They shrug off dumb, crazy, and mean-spirited feedback.
The most successful lawyers got to the top of the pile because they are well put together enough to navigate a complex often cruel universe of bosses, judges, clients and colleagues. And "well put together" entails having confidence.
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