The Confidence Shortcut

This is the Minute Business Riff (MBR). Quick takes. Big swings. Leadership riffs you can read in less time than it takes to scroll LinkedIn aimlessly.

One minute. One idea. That’s it.

Today’s word count: 241

It took me 54s to read this.

A new manager I worked with once called me the night before her first all-hands presentation.

She was panicked.

“I’m not ready.” “I don’t think I have the presence.” “What if I freeze?”

Totally normal fears - especially when you’re stepping into authority for the first time.

But here’s what I told her:

“You’re supposed to feel that way. Butterflies don’t mean you’re unqualified - they mean you care.”

Then I gave her one more line that stuck:

“Confidence isn’t a prerequisite. It’s a result. And the only way to get it… is reps.”

She didn’t crush the all-hands.

She fumbled a few slides. Talked too fast.

But she did it. And the next one? Smoother.

The one after that? Clear. Direct. Actually inspiring.

Fast-forward a few months: That same manager was coaching other new leaders through their fear.

Not because she learned confidence.

But because she built it - brick by brick, rep by rep.

Here’s the leadership truth nobody says out loud: Being scared doesn’t mean you’re not a leader.

It means you’re human.

What makes you a leader is this: You go first anyway.

Tactical Takeaway:

This week, if something scares you - that meeting, that message, that ask?

Don’t wait to feel ready.

Do it with the butterflies.

Because leadership doesn’t come from feeling certain.

It comes from showing up anyway - and earning the certainty over time.

Think this was a banger? Think I’m full of it?

Either way, hit reply and drop some truth bombs.

I read every email 😁

Great leaders are made in minutes. Not meetings.