In last Saturday’s Scotsman a dozen of Scotland’s top business leaders were asked what’s required to revive the world’s economy. The recovery of business confidence, was the simple reply of over half of them.
Fair enough. But I wonder – exactly what is business confidence? For me, the expression suggests a certain tone of resignation. It’s like it’s some mysterious, nebulous thing our businesses need, but which we can’t control. We just have to wait for it to return. I don’t like that; I think we can do something about our lot. (I’d be a pretty poor coach if I didn’t.)
I prefer to think in slightly different terms. Confidence is knowing you can do something. You’re confident you can tie your shoe laces, give a good presentation, or provide a good service. It’s something inside. Business confidence is something else – it’s not just about believing in yourself. It’s something that exists between people. A better word for it is trust. I like that a lot better – you can actually do something about building trust. And let’s face it – it’s a lack of trust that stops the banks lending. To call it a lack of confidence is to be euphemistic.
So what’s my point? There’s a lot out there about what opportunities the recession offers – but it can be difficult seeing it that way. It comes down to a choice of perspective. You can see business confidence as something to wait patiently for. Or you can see belief in yourself and trust between your business and your customers as things you can build.
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