How to Balance Confidence and Humility in the Workplace
When you hear “humility,” you might picture someone who is a pushover. When you picture a confident person, you might think of someone who is bossy and domineering. These stereotypes exist, not because humility and confidence don’t go together, but because people often possess these qualities in proportions that are out of balance. Being overly confident or too humble can end in decreased productivity, more mistakes, and stalled work.
In balance, each quality brings its own benefits. Humility makes you more open to collaboration and critique and fosters creativity, accountability, and workplace satisfaction. Confidence nurtures resilience and courage, increases positivity, and reduces stress.
When confidence and humility are in balance, they make you a better worker, coworker, and human being—someone who can admit they’re not perfect and works to become a better version of themselves.
How Do You Find the Balance?
There are five different skills you can build that will help you find a harmonious balance of humility and confidence. Keep embracing the areas where you are strongest, and use these action items to overcome areas of weakness.
1. Play Well with Others
Being a good collaborator and teammate requires both a humble, other-oriented mindset and the confidence to speak up and help your team accomplish their goals. Too much humility, and your team won’t benefit from your skills and perspectives. Too much confidence, and your teammates won’t have the chance to shine.
Practice Confidence:
If you catch yourself overthinking things and stalling a project, practice trusting yourself and your teammates, and move forward with a positive outlook.
Allow yourself to make a confident decision, and be willing to learn if it doesn’t work out.
Own your skillset and demonstrate your value by speaking up in meetings, volunteering for assignments, and taking on special projects.
In-clinic example: Volunteer for an extra shift or help with a cross-departmental project. BB Imaging sonographers help gather content for webinars and test the newest tech from TeleScan!
Practice Humility:
Think before you speak or act. Ask yourself how your actions and words will affect those you work with and the patients you serve.
Give others time and space to share. When you listen to dissenting opinions, you equip yourself to make the most well-informed decision.
If you have a tendency to hog the limelight, take time to purposefully celebrate the ideas, strengths, and abilities of others.
In-clinic example: Avoid healthcare terms and jargon that could confuse or scare patients. Instead, use everyday language to keep them comfortable and informed.
2. Train Your Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence (aka EQ), refers to someone’s ability to perceive, understand, and manage their feelings and emotions. EQ is made up of five components. Practicing these EQ components gives you enough confidence to prevent a downward spiral and enough humility to keep you from getting egotistical.
Practice Confidence:
If you struggle with feeling your worth, practice self-awareness. This looks like acknowledging your abilities, believing in your capacity for success, and truthfully evaluating your value. (Hint: You’re crazy valuable!)
Practicing intrinsic motivation means pursuing something because it is naturally satisfying to you. When external value isn’t motivating you (think pay and benefits), try to think of internal reasons for completing a task.
In-clinic example: If you focus on the fact that being a sonographer means you get to help others, even mundane tasks can take on valuable purpose.
Practice Humility:
It can be easy for some people to “lose it” in stressful situations. If you’re one of those people, practicing self-regulation helps you express your emotions appropriately. Work to observe your emotions before you act and react.
If you tend to think only about yourself (it happens!), work on looking out for others first. Empathy is that special ability to understand how others are feeling and respond appropriately.
In-clinic example: Life isn’t perfect, and sometimes the people around you won’t feel cheerful. Be willing to take a little time to check in with coworkers and patients who seem to be struggling.
Practice Both:
Social skills refer to being able to interact and communicate with others. This requires the confidence to speak up and build your reputation as well as the humility to listen and stay out of unnecessary arguments.
In-clinic example: Start conversations with coworkers and physicians. Asking questions shows care and interest and builds rapport.
In-clinic example: When you’re mentoring a new sonographer or intern, don’t embarrass them when they ask questions.
3. Be Grateful
Studies have shown a gratitude practice helps you overcome negative emotions, boosts your optimism, and improves your overall health. Practicing gratitude for confidence helps you appreciate all of your qualities, attributes, and abilities, which builds your self-esteem. Gratitude can also lead to greater humility when you take time to recognize all the good outside of yourself.
Practice Confidence:
If you’re feeling unsure about an assignment, reflect on your past successes and achievements.
When stressful situations pop up, or you're struggling with organizational change, don’t dwell on feeling out of control. Instead, think about all the positive actions or attitudes that are available to you.
In-clinic example: When you’re studying for a new certification, remember you’ve crushed it before, and you can do it again!
Practice Humility:
When you are successful, don’t keep it to yourself! Acknowledge others’ contributions to your success and remember to say “thank you.”
Complaining is hard on workplace culture. Instead, make gratitude a daily habit. Journal, create a list, or just take time to reflect on everything you’re grateful for—big and small things alike!
In-clinic example: When you reach a milestone, remember to thank everyone who has helped you achieve it. Show your gratitude in-person, with a quick email, or through a card.
4. Be Honest
Honesty is the best policy, personally and professionally. Being honest and humble gives you the ability to admit your mistakes. Being honest and confident gives you the freedom to not know everything and empowers you to ask questions.
Practice Confidence:
Striving for perfection will leave you feeling inadequate. Give up that unattainable standard and set honest, realistic goals.
Expect mistakes, and don’t let them define you. Be ready to learn from them and move on.
In-clinic example: One day, you’re going to misread a scan. Expecting mistakes can keep you alert and at the top of your game.
Practice Humility:
Whether it's valid or not, blaming others only prevents you from solving the problem. Give others a little grace, acknowledge any role you played, and work together to fix the issue.
It might seem counterintuitive, but you shouldn’t hide your failures. Own up to them, embrace what they can teach you, and keep growing. This helps others feel comfortable doing the same and leads to a more open work environment.
In-clinic example: Keeping your mistakes secret can make them feel worse and bigger than they really are. Sharing your experiences, even the negative ones, can help you and your team learn and grow.
5. Nurture a Growth Mindset
Psychologist Carol Dweck believes people have either a “fixed” or “growth” mindset. The fixed mindset believes your qualities, intelligence, and talents are unchangeable. The growth mindset, however, believes it can cultivate, and even master, new skills and traits.
Practice Confidence:
Don’t indulge self-talk that is hyper-critical or judgmental. Instead, repeat true and positive affirmations that highlight your capacity for growth.
When you’re feeling stuck, recall past accomplishments and think about how you overcame obstacles in the past.
Celebrate the little wins—when you exceed expectations, complete a project early, or get a meaningful compliment.
In-clinic example: Keep a positive affirmation in your pocket or on the ultrasound machine to keep you and your teammates in the right mindset.
Practice Humility:
Frame workplace challenges and critical feedback as opportunities for growth—not as threats to your job security or insults to your competence.
Show appreciation and respect for the people who provide critique and suggest paths for professional growth.
In-clinic example: At some point, you’ll face criticism from a physician or lead/charge sonographer. Stop defensiveness in its tracks and remember to count this as an opportunity to show how you can continually improve.
There you have it! Hopefully this article has demonstrated how humility and confidence go together, and how you can grow these key skills. Do you agree, disagree, or think we missed something? Let us know in the comments. We’d love to hear from you!