PERSONAL EMPOWERMENT
ASK THE CAREER EXPERT
When the
Challenge
Fights with
Confidence
by Hope LeNoir
Hope LeNoir
I
have never, ever had my confidence
shaken. Ever. But that day was different. I
was called aside by a very high level leader
to tell me I was underperforming. That.
Blew. Me. Away.
“Why did they tell you and not me?” I
asked.
The leader went on to explain I used
to be a part of his group, so they believed
I would take the feedback better from him.
He continued to offer me my old job back
and attempted to explain how valuable I
was in my old job. My heart dropped. My
confidence was crushed. Why wasn’t I as in
tune to my surroundings as I had always
18 HimPower April 2017
been? Why didn’t my current leaders come
directly to me with any feedback they felt
I should receive? Was I missing my goals?
Was my performance so low that I couldn’t
even recognize it? Even more so, was I even
supposed to be here?
I was shaken like no other event in my
entire life, recognizably that is. I felt small.
I felt stupid. I felt misplaced. I felt the confi-
dence and faith I had before was fake. All of
the successes I thought I owned were nonex-
istent, but then I was taken out of myself.
Luckily, I asked a young woman to be my
unofficial mentor a few weeks earlier. That
day I got the troubling news, I emailed her