I
watched “The Skill of Self-Confidence” by Dr. Ivan Joseph. I initially chose to
watch this presentation over others because of the one key word in the title:
confidence. One of Dress for Success Worldwide’s main goals is to instill
confidence in the women with whom they work with. This goal, however, is not being
reached at Dress for Success Lexington. Analisa mentioned several times that
when a women who previously has worn hand-me-down, ratty, torn, or dirty
clothing, a well-fit suit can give them the confidence boost they need to
believe in themselves and their abilities. She also told us that confidence
plays an essential role when looking for a job. On the other hand, it does not
seem like Analisa nor Sue build up their client’s self-confidence outside of
giving them new clothing. I think Analisa and Sue can learn a lot from this TED
Talk.
After
I watched this speech, I realized Dr. Joseph reiterated how important
self-confidence truly is. He began his TED Talk by telling a story of when he
was a soccer coach. He explains that parents used to ask what he was looking
for in prospective athletes, and he would ask what the players do really well. The
parents assumed he wanted them to delve into the specific soccer skills the
players had, but he reassured them that that was not what he was looking for. Dr.
Ivan Joseph clarified that self-confidence is the most important thing a
player, or anyone, can have. Joseph then defined how he personally defines
self-confidence. He said it is the belief in yourself to accomplish any task no
matter the odds, no matter the difficulty, and no matter the adversity. He went
on to say that he intentionally called self-confidence a skill because he
believes it can be trained. I think this definition is very similar to what
Dress for Success should have as well. Many of the clients of this organization
have endured unimaginable hardships. Nonetheless, with a little bit of help, through
training and education, it is a reachable skill to obtain. I have witnessed
both Analisa and Sue talking poorly about some of their clients and I think
they should be the ones advocating for them. DFS may believe self-confidence is
what makes the difference between reaching success and failing, but they need
to do more to actually implement this.
Dr.
Joseph then went on to tell various different stories, but there were two
common themes present. The first was that if you don’t believe in yourself, no
one else will. He used Mohammed Ali as an example. Mohammed Ali used to say to
himself “I am the greatest, there is no one better than me.”
This is important because even one of the best boxers in the world needed to reassure himself every once in a while that he is great. Dr. Joseph says that if he believed he was the greatest, then he was the greatest in his mind and that is what is important; it is all about perception. I think this is also very relatable to what DFS should tell their clients. Many of their clients are not able to tell themselves how great they truly are before they walk in the door, however, with the help from the volunteers, Sue, and Analisa, they should be able to after they walk out.
The
second theme of his stories is aimed at the teachers and educators, so in the
case Analisa and Sue. Dr. Joseph says it is more beneficial to look at and praise
the good, rather than focusing and emphasizing the bad. I believe this is an
important lesson for Sue and Analisa to learn. Sue once told me that a client
walked in and had a mustard stain on her shirt. Sue publicly confronted the
woman and told her how atrocious it was of her to go out in public with a
stain. Instead, she should have told a different client how professional she
looked in her clean clothing. This way, she would have boosting the second client’s
self-confidence without being a detriment to the first client. The employees of
Dress for Success Lexington can really learn a lot and really help their
clients if they begin to implement the strategies that Dr. Ivan Joseph
discussed in his TED Talk. Here is the link to the TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-HYZv6HzAs
