Silence Your Inner Critic and Lead With Confidence

Have you ever felt like you didn’t really measure up to the assumptions that others have made about you?  Do you wonder if your success may be the result of luck and timing, rather than your intelligence or hard work?  Have you ever worried that at some point, everyone is going to figure out that you’re just making it up as you go, and figuring it out on-the-fly?

If so, you may have had a run-in with “The Impostor”, that inner critic that tries to convince you that your success isn’t real, and that you’re living a lie.

But what if that voice is not proof that you are failing?

What if it is actually a sign that you are growing?

In this powerful keynote, Kris Kelso will unpack the hidden battle of impostor syndrome and give you a new way to understand fear, failure, and vulnerability. You'll learn to recognize the voice of the inner critic, reinterpret what it's actually telling you, and stop treating uncertainty like a sign that you should shrink back.

Instead, you'll learn how to step forward with greater courage, embrace failure as part of success, and lead with authenticity when the stakes are high.

You’ll never look at fear the same way again.

Escaping the Trap of "Fake it 'til You Make it".

You’re ambitious; You’re a risk taker; And you’re highly successful.  And yet, in the rapidly evolving world of business, you regularly find yourself in new territory, learning as you go. 

And that's okay, because we've all heard it before... just “fake it ‘til you make it” – right?

Pretend you have all the answers, even when you don’t.  Act like you’re an expert, even though expertise is a moving target.   Guarantee results, even when you’re doing a series of experiments….   

It’s a recipe that sets you up for failure, and it feels terrible as you do it.

Ironically, “faking it 'til you make it” doesn't boost your confidence – it erodes it, because it reinforces that nagging feeling that your success isn’t real.  When you tell yourself to “fake it”, you end up feeling like a fake.  And that lack of confidence shows up in your work.

But there’s another way.  Instead of faking it ‘til you make it, you can walk in Humble Confidence.

Humility and Confidence are not opposites – they’re partners.  When you’re Humbly Confident, you can stand in what you know, and be honest about what you don’t know. You can leverage vulnerability as a powerful tool, rather than seeing it as a weakness.  And, you can avoid all the wasted effort that goes into protecting your image, and apply that energy to growing.

You'll realize that the thing you fear... is exactly what you need.