Do you struggle with low self-esteem at work? If so, you're not alone. Low self condifence is something that holds back thousands of people, mostly women, a year at work and it's something we often hear about from our candidates. How you feel about yourself is really important and it directly relates to how well you perform so we've highlighted 6 steps you can take to boost your self-esteem and self-confidence in the work place.

For other great advice for assistants take a look at our blog on 'The Soft Skills Managers Most Value In Their Assistants' and '7 Habits Of Highly Effective Assistants'.

1. Identify your strengths and capitalise on them Think about everything you do at work and identify the areas in which you excel, doing this will help you understand where your strengths lie and what makes you good at certain tasks. From here you can then ask yourself how you can use these skills more in your current role, perhaps shaping the role around your strengths or just changing the way you do things to capitalise on your skill set.

2. Closely monitor your success Our brain has a negative bias, meaning we’re naturally programmed to focus on the negative and ignore the positive. Can you precisely remember the few times in which you have felt belittled at work or been criticised by your boss whereas when you get praise you find yourself making excuses to undermine reasons for it? A great way to help with this is to start noting down all the positive reinforcement, however small it may seem, that you get at work – make a file for congratulatory emails, milestones reached, thank you notes and recognition and praise from inside and outside the company. That way you can look at it when your confidence is lacking and remind yourself of what has gone well. It’s also a great reference point for when you are applying for new jobs.

3. Ask for feedback To increase your self-esteem you need to feel like you are growing and improving within your role. Ask your boss or a trusted colleage for constructive feedback on certain tasks you have completed such as a presentation or report. Ask them what specifically was good/bad/could be improved upon. Whatever feedback they give use the information to make small and precise changes to the way you work, if you only take one thing from the feedback that’s better than nothing!

4. Practise saying NO Being a yes man at work is a big no. If you constantly say yes to everyone’s demands now is the time to stop. Take stock of what is vital to your own work and if a request doesn’t actually need your input and you won’t get any recognition from it say no. This won’t make people resent you, in fact it will make them respect you more and give you more time to focus on your own work and excel where it really matters. Thereby boosting your self-confidence as you grow in your role.

5. Don’t compare yourself to other people Comparison is the theft of joy. It’s also the theft of self-esteem as you’ll always presume everyone else is doing better than you. Instead, use that energy to focus on yourself. Think about where you want to be in the future and look at what small changes you could make to your day to help you get there. It may be as simple as drinking more water or taking a lunchtime walk. The important thing here is to focus on yourself and what makes you happy, not other people.

6. Celebrate other people’s success Be the change you want to see. By promoting a positive attitude and an atmosphere of celebrating success and patting each other on the back you’re creating a work culture that naturally boosts everyone’s self-esteem. A happier and more enthused team will create a generally nicer work environment, one in which people feel comfortable enough to make mistakes and voice their opinions. Helping you, and everyone else, to grow and flourish within their careers.

We really hope you have found the above useful, if you're currently on the job hunt take a look at our job board or get in touch with one of our consultants for a chat.