Don Moore, Professor and Confidence Researcher – How to be Perfectly Confident

In this episode, hosts Paulina & Ray talk with Don Moore, the Lorraine Tyson Mitchell professor of Management of Organizations at Haas and a professor of the Leading People core course for 1st year full-time MBA students. We delve into Don’s new book, Perfectly Confident, where he tells us about the 3 forms of overconfidence (9:42), if confidence really improves performance (10:36), and what to do if you have imposter syndrome (17:30). Don also shares a few personal stories, including why he turned down a sure-fire job with a former professor (27:51). Finally, we end with practical tips (40:53) on how to correctly calibrate your own confidence.

Episode Quotes:

"Confidence without attitude is most effective when it’s backed up by ability."

"The way to handle imposter syndrome is to get better information about the struggles that others are dealing with."

On how to identify overconfidence in others

"I would say, ask for clear evidence. Evidence that’s hard to fake; evidence of real performance: numerical, disprovable, claims of confidence."

On the dangers of being results-oriented

"If being results-oriented means that you reward success and punish failure, that’s dangerous because you will reward the lucky and punish the unlucky."

Show Links:

• Don Moore – Haas profile
• Perfectly Confident
• Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within
• The Confidence Code
• Annie Duke – Thinking in Bets