Success in every line of work or situation can only be achieved by facing every challenge head-on without doubts or fear. Therefore, building confidence is key in establishing a strong character and mindset in whatever you do. Stephen Jaye sits down with Jamie Dandar McKinney to discuss how confidence starts with embracing a burning desire to learn and grow. She explains the power of eliminating negative self-talk and knowing when to shift confidence gears depending on the situation. Jamie also shares her work as the Founder of JDM Consulting, helping women leaders discover their confidence to reach the top of the corporate ladder.
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Jamie Dandar McKinney On Building Confidence Through Curiosity And Openness
One thing that keeps a lot of people settling for less is a lack of confidence. The inability to speak up, say what you want or even within yourself, believe that you are capable of and deserving what you want. This is a topic that inflicts a lot of people and is affected by this. It's something that people are even sometimes ashamed to admit and how often this is something that impedes us from getting the life that we truly want. My guest, Jamie McKinney, specializes in helping people find that confidence. She is the Founder and President of JMT Consulting. Jamie, welcome to the program.
Thank you, Stephen. I'm so excited to be here with you.
A lot of people are thinking about self-confidence and do have issues with self-confidence. What made you feel like it was going to be the thing that you brought into the world with the business you started? What service do you want to provide for humanity?
This started very early in my career. The confidence I figured out was my survival skill initially. Once I started to figure out some of the nuances of it, it graduated to my thriving skill and that was important. I started my career in the automotive industry so it was very heavily male-dominated. That was my first job out of college.
I was the third female to join a team of 400. I was the youngest, on average, by about twenty years. I hadn't grown up in the automotive industry so I didn't have stories to regale with them. The one thing I did have that some of my comrades did not was a college degree. You remember the game, which one of these things is not like the others. That was me in a variety of categories.
There were shenanigans and resistance. I was also learning and new. I figured out though, early on that I didn't have to be the smartest person in the room, the most experienced and certainly the most male as long as I carried myself and with confidence and lead with that confidence. It started out being my secret sauce and my way of having an advantage in an industry and a company in a place where my advantages were limited as I was gaining experience.
A lot of people would struggle with the idea of finding that confidence, whether it be survival or a thriving skill. One of the things that happen with a lot of people who lack self-confidence is doing whatever the boss says, not setting boundaries. “The boss told me I need to work over the weekend. I'm not going to say, ‘I'm sorry. My other parts of my life matter too.’” What gave you the courage to develop and show that self-confidence in this automotive industry where you were the one that's not like the other for several different reasons?
One, I wanted to be there, be successful in business and learn. I was in an environment and a place that I saw as a challenge. I like challenges. Part of it, I was innately ready to learn and do something that I hadn't done yet. To break it down to a smaller piece and this is something in my book I talk about is figuring out your “hit it to me” skill. The “hit it to me” skill is a reference to a baseball interview that Derek Jeter was on in early 2000.
I was listening to this interview while sitting on the couch in my apartment when I was fresh out of college.