You may still be curious as to what kind of confident person you can be at your best. This is a question that even the most experienced, capable chief executives and media personalities ask themselves regularly. Successful people stretch themselves.

You have enormous potential limited only by yourself. And it’s up to you to realize it. Gandhi had to overcome acute shyness to take on injustice in the world and free his people. And the more you connect with what is important to you, the more you become true to your most confident self.

People often feel a fraud when they take a leadership role that’s new and more senior than the one they are used to. If you feel this, then remember you’ve been selected for that senior job because your company believes you will do it well. It’s not realistic to expect to have all the knowledge on day one. People invite you to join them because they know you can contribute, and they want you.

Not everyone wants or needs to be an international leader on the world stage, but you can see yourself as a leader in your own world. You can lead by your example. Look back over time to things that you may take for granted. You have learned to ride a bike or drive a car, operate a computer, or renovate your house. As your skills and competence grow, so you become more confident to take on bigger challenges. Something that seemed hard five years ago maybe a piece of cake today.

Be your own sponsor as well as critic. You may be good at giving yourself a hard time by comparing yourself unfavourably with others: ‘I’ll never be as good as. . .’ Comparisons with others are valuable in that they can help you to excel and raise your game as a budding Tiger Woods on the golf circuit, for example. But don’t waste energy beating yourself up by not being as good as the expert who dedicates every day of their lives to practice.

You are important in this world and have a real contribution to make. Support, mentoring, and personal sponsorship of various

types can help you to be the very best you can be. Begin by assuming you are going to be successful, and surround yourself with people who honour you and support your growth.

So who are you really? The ‘you’ that you want to become is up to you, as you will find out when you follow your own direction.

In the words of Gandhi: ‘You must be the change you wish to see in the world.’