Confidence Comes Before Capability
One of the biggest things that can hold someone back from stepping into advisory isn't their technical knowledge.
It's confidence.
You can have someone in your team who understands the numbers, knows the client and has great ideas — but put them into an advisory conversation and suddenly they doubt themselves.
What if I say the wrong thing?
What if the client asks me something I can't answer?
Am I experienced enough to have this conversation?
In this episode of Advisory Secrets, I talk about why I don't believe confidence is something you either have or you don't.
Confidence can be developed.
And one of the best ways to develop it is through experience.
Bring team members into client meetings. Let them observe. Then give them a small part of the conversation to lead. Ask for their opinion. Give them feedback afterwards. And gradually increase their involvement as their confidence grows.
Because we can't keep someone behind the scenes and then expect them to suddenly feel confident sitting in front of a client.
We have to give them opportunities to practise.
And different people will need different levels of support.
That's also why, at APX Training, we've partnered with Hetty Verney. Hetty isn't only an accountant with around 30 years' experience; she's also a Belief Coding® specialist, working with people on some of the beliefs and confidence issues that can hold them back.
Because sometimes someone has the knowledge and the ability.
The thing getting in the way is what they believe about their own ability to do it.
So perhaps the question isn't:
"Why isn't this person confident enough to do advisory?"
Perhaps it's:
"What opportunities are we giving them to become confident?"
Takeaways
- Technical knowledge alone doesn't automatically create a confident advisor.
- Confidence can be developed through experience, practice and the right support.
- Don't expect someone who's always worked behind the scenes to suddenly feel comfortable leading client conversations.
- Start small — observation, contributing one point, asking a question or leading one part of a meeting.
- Give feedback afterwards and help people recognise what they did well, as well as what they can develop.
- Different team members may need different kinds of support to build their confidence.
- Sometimes the barrier isn't capability at all — it can be the person's belief in their own capability.
- Before deciding someone "isn't confident enough for advisory", ask whether they've actually been given enough opportunities to develop that confidence.
Find Out More
At APX Training, we've partnered with Hetty Verney to support the confidence and belief side of developing advisory professionals. You can find out more about Hetty and our approach on the APX website.
You can also join our free Advisory Teams Facebook community for more conversations around developing advisory capability across your team.
Transcript
Welcome to Advisory Secrets with Deb Halladay, the bite sized podcast for accountants and bookkeepers developing their advisory skills.
Speaker A:In this series, we're going beyond the individual advisor and exploring how to build advisory capability across your team.
Speaker A:Because a scalable advisory service shouldn't depend on one person.
Speaker A:Let's get started.
Speaker A:In the last episode, we talked about the difference between delegating tasks and developing advisory capability.
Speaker A:And one of the biggest barriers to doing that is confidence.
Speaker A:You might have someone in your team who is technically excellent.
Speaker A:They understand the numbers, they know the client, they spot things you haven't even noticed yet.
Speaker A:But put them into an advisory conversation and suddenly they become hesitant.
Speaker A:They don't want to say the wrong thing, and they worry that the client might ask a question they can't answer, or they simply don't feel it's their place to offer an opinion.
Speaker A:And sometimes we look at that and think they're just not confident enough for advisory.
Speaker A:But confidence isn't necessarily something someone either has or doesn't have.
Speaker A:It can be developed.
Speaker A:And as leaders, we have an important role in creating the environment for that that to happen.
Speaker A:One of the mistakes we can make is telling someone they need to be more advisory without really explaining what that means.
Speaker A:Ask more questions, be more commercial, talk to clients more, give them more value.
Speaker A:But if someone has spent years being rewarded for accuracy, following processes and getting the right answer, that's quite a significant change.
Speaker A:We're suddenly asking them to step into conversations where there may not be one correct answer.
Speaker A:We're asking them to express an opinion, to challenge thinking, to explore possibilities, and potentially to say, I don't know, but let's, let's look at that.
Speaker A:That can feel uncomfortable.
Speaker A:So confidence needs to be built gradually.
Speaker A:And one of the best ways to do that is through exposure.
Speaker A:Bring team members into advisory meetings.
Speaker A:Let them listen first, then give them a small role.
Speaker A:Perhaps they explain one section of the numbers, perhaps they ask one or two questions.
Speaker A:Perhaps they talk about an area of the client's business they know particularly well.
Speaker A:Then afterwards talk about how it went.
Speaker A:What did they notice?
Speaker A:What worked?
Speaker A:What would they do differently next time?
Speaker A:What did they think when the client said a particular thing?
Speaker A:Those conversations are incredibly valuable because you're not just giving feedback, you're helping them reflect.
Speaker A:And reflection builds judgment.
Speaker A:Another important part of confidence is permission.
Speaker A:Your team needs to know that you actually want them to contribute.
Speaker A:If every time somebody offers an opinion, the business owner immediately corrects them, finishes their sentence, or gives the better answer, they'll soon stop contributing, even if we don't mean to do it.
Speaker A:Sometimes our own expertise can accidentally silence the people we're trying to develop.
Speaker A:So occasionally we need to sit back, let someone else answer first.
Speaker A:Let them explore the question.
Speaker A:Let them find their own way through the conversation.
Speaker A:And that doesn't mean leaving them unsupported.
Speaker A:It means creating a safe place for them to practice.
Speaker A:And there will be times when they don't know the answer.
Speaker A:That's okay.
Speaker A:A trusted advisor doesn't need to know everything.
Speaker A:Knowing when to say, let me look into that and come back to you, is a professional skill in itself.
Speaker A:We also need to remember that different people will build confidence in different ways.
Speaker A:One team member might be comfortable speaking in meetings very quickly.
Speaker A:Another might need more preparation.
Speaker A:Someone may be brilliant at analysing a situation, but less confident explaining it.
Speaker A:Someone else might have fantastic client relationships but need to develop their commercial knowledge.
Speaker A:That's why building an advisory team isn't about forcing everyone through exactly the same mold.
Speaker A:It's about recognizing strengths and developing people from where they are.
Speaker A:And confidence tends to grow when people experience success.
Speaker A:The first time they ask a question that opens up a really useful conversation.
Speaker A:The first time a client asks for their opinion, the first time they spot something that leads to a better decision.
Speaker A:Those moments matter, because suddenly they're not pretending to be an advisor, they're experiencing what it feels like to be one.
Speaker A:And each successful experience gives them a little more confidence for the next one.
Speaker A:So here's the question I'd like you to think about after this episode.
Speaker A:Does your team genuinely lack confidence in advisory, or have they simply not had enough opportunities to build it yet?
Speaker A:Because confidence doesn't usually arrive before the opportunity, very often it develops because of it.
Speaker A:And in the next episode, we're going to take that one step further.
Speaker A:Because if you want clients to trust your team, at some point, your team needs to become visible to them.
Speaker A:So we'll look at a simple but important question.
Speaker A:Who should actually be in the client meeting?
Speaker A:We also need to remember that different people will build confidence in different ways.
Speaker A:One team member might be comfortable speaking in meetings very quickly.
Speaker A:Another might need more preparation.
Speaker A:Someone may be brilliant at analyzing a situation, but less confident explaining it.
Speaker A:Someone else might have fantastic client relationships but need to develop their commercial knowledge.
Speaker A:And sometimes the barrier isn't knowledge or ability at all.
Speaker A:It can be the beliefs we hold about ourselves, that feeling of, who am I to advise this client?
Speaker A:Or worrying that we're not experienced enough, senior enough or confident enough to have that conversation.
Speaker A:That's one of the reasons that at APX Training, we've partnered with Hetty Verney.
Speaker A:Hetty isn't only an accountant with 30 years experience, she's also a belief coding specialist, working with people on the beliefs and confidence barriers that can sometimes hold them back professionally.
Speaker A:Because we can teach someone the skills of advisory we can give them frameworks, knowledge and opportunities to practice.
Speaker A:But sometimes we also need to address what's going on underneath that lack of confidence.
Speaker A:You can find out more about Hetty and the work she does with us@apxtraining.co.uk and this is also why building an advisory team isn't about forcing everyone through exactly the same mould.
Speaker A:It's about recognizing strengths, understanding what might be holding someone back, and developing people from where they are.
Speaker A:Confidence tends to grow when people experience success.
Speaker A:The first time they ask a question that opens up a really useful conversation, the first time a client asks for their opinion, the first time they spot something that leads to a better decision.
Speaker A:Those moments matter because suddenly they're not pretending to be an advisor, they're experiencing what it feels like to be one.
Speaker A:And each successful experience gives them a little more confidence for the next one.
Speaker A:Thanks for listening to Advisory Secrets with Deb Halladay.
Speaker A:If you're ready to develop advisory capability across your team, visit apxtraining.co.uk to explore our evergreen elearning and Live Implementation cohorts starting in September, February and May.
Speaker A:You can also join our free Advisory Teams community on facebook@facebook.com groups advisoryteams.
Speaker A:And if you'd like more podcast content, listen to Advisory Conversations with Tim Seymour and Deb Halliday.
Speaker A:Available on all major podcast platforms.
Speaker A:I'll see you next time for another advisory secret.
