How confident are you in your current career path? Your answer isn’t an emotional guess or brag or bravado, assures Ivan Joseph, who holds a doctorate in sport psychology from Capella University in Minneapolis. It’s actually measurable by this yardstick: How do you behave when no one is watching? Do you still prepare? Do you still tell the truth? Do you still choose the harder path? Those actions, he assures his audiences, is real confidence.

“Confidence isn’t believing you’re exceptional. It’s believing you’ll be okay, even when you’re not great yet … [you] grow deep confidence quietly by raising your standards of how you show up and by seeking feedback,” he tells his LinkedIn followers.

And that’s exactly why he has found success for more than 30 years. He labels himself a scholar-practitioner, high-performance and confidence coach. His focus has been consistent – his Ph.D. journey concentrated on studying the links between grit, confidence and high performance; his masters in higher education administration at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, focused on how to make people feel like they matter and belong in order to achieve excellence.

As a professor and soccer coach at Graceland University, he developed the soccer program from the ground up – leading both the men’s and women’s teams to No. 1 national rankings and guiding the men to the school’s first national championship, earning National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Coach of the Year honors. He later spent a decade as director of athletics at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson), helping elevate the program to new prominence.

But Joseph isn’t merely a sports guy (even if he is a car aficionado). His TEDx Talk, “The Skill of Self-Confidence,” has more than 31 million views, and he’s given presentations to more than 750 companies that focus on manufacturing, retail, pharmaceutical, technology, food and everything in between. Because at the heart, he’s driven by his own purpose: “I am an educator first and foremost,” he says.

His other secret? There isn’t a difference between a team of school district departments and a team wearing jerseys and bouncing a basketball. “When teams thrive, they elevate everyone to a level they didn’t know was possible,” he says. “When teams struggle, they create dynamics and challenges that limit performance.”

And all leaders achieve their goals by setting higher expectations to achieve new levels of performance. Joseph himself traveled this path. He moved with his family from his native Guyana to Canada when he was 5, where he was immediately different – the Black student on a white campus.

Later, he was the successful Black man experiencing the challenges and opportunities of being a designated hire.

He admits to feeling imposter syndrome. But he didn’t let any of it turn him from building his own confidence and passing it on to new generations as the vice president of student affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University, and a similar role at Dalhousie University. Currently, he’s an executive coach to McMaster Organizational Leaders Program participants at the DeGroote School of Business.

CASBO sat down with him before his presentation at CASBO Con 26 for a peek into his winning message.

Is there a specific mentor, book or experience from your early career that fundamentally shaped your approach to your work today?

Early in my career, Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect by Bob Rotella, Ph.D., fundamentally changed how I understood performance and confidence. The book introduced me to the idea of letting go of perfection and not dwelling on my mistakes. I learned to visualize the outcome I wanted from Dr. Rotella. That shift – away from obsessing over mistakes and toward trusting preparation – was transformational. In many ways, that book planted the seed for everything that followed. It directly influenced my decision to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology and shaped what has become my life’s work: helping people understand that self-confidence is not a personality trait you’re born with, but a skill you can train.

What’s one nonnegotiable part of your daily routine that helps you stay focused and productive?

I don’t have a rigid nonnegotiable – and that’s an honest answer, particularly for a leader with ADHD. What I do know is this: When I start my day with a written agenda and a prioritized list, my productivity increases dramatically. Clarity creates calm. Structure creates freedom. One of my best scheduling tips is to intentionally preserve time daily for unexpected issues. I usually block 30 minutes to an hour after lunch for administrative agility, so that I can easily address things before they snowball.

For leaders, especially in complex systems like school districts, it’s not about perfection in routine – it’s about creating just enough structure to reduce cognitive noise, so you can focus on what truly matters, while leaving space for the inevitable surprises or crises.

Your core message is that self-confidence is a skill, not a trait. When a school business leader faces a major setback, what’s the very first practical step they should take to retrain their confidence skill?

The first step is simple, but not easy: Let go of the mistake.

Once you’ve admitted your mistake, apologized and come up with a plan so that it won’t happen again, let it go. Interrupt the spiral. If you’re beating yourself up, pause and deliberately remind yourself of your competence and track record. Confidence doesn’t grow by pretending mistakes didn’t happen; it grows by refusing to let one moment redefine your identity or sidetrack your whole afternoon.

I often return to three affirmations:

1. I am the captain of my ship and the master of my fate.

2. I can learn anything.

3. You’ve got this.

Confidence training begins with what you say to yourself after things go wrong.

You’ve spoken about the danger of confidence turning into ego or “confident humility.” In the high-pressure school leadership environment, how can a leader remain confident in their strategic vision, while being humble enough to solicit and truly listen to critical feedback?

Ego is loud. Confidence is quiet.

Ego is what you tell other people about yourself. Confidence is what you tell yourself: I can accomplish the task at hand.

In high-pressure leadership environments, humility is not weakness – it’s a performance strategy. Actively seeking feedback, listening without defensiveness and acting on what you hear strengthens both your decision-making and your credibility. Leaders who do this aren’t less confident; they are more adaptable and more trusted.

Leaders often rise through the ranks by mastering a specific playbook. How can school business leaders avoid the “fixed mindset” trap – a belief that their past success means they already know the best solution?

Past success is a terrible teacher if we let it convince us we’ve “figured it out.”

The moment we rest on accomplishments, we stop learning. High-performing leaders continually ask: Can we do this better? That question keeps confidence elastic rather than brittle. It signals curiosity, not insecurity – and it’s the antidote to stagnation in fast-changing educational and financial environments.

How can district leaders promote the skill of self-confidence in team members?

Confidence grows fastest when leaders catch people doing things right.

This isn’t about lowering standards – it’s about reinforcing the behaviors you want repeated. Specific, timely and public recognition builds accurate confidence. When people see clear examples of what’s desired and hear from leaders that they’re capable, they take ownership, speak up earlier and solve problems faster. This engenders trust and loyalty across your division and within the people you lead.

Confidence multiplies when leaders make competence visible to everyone.

You highlight that self-confidence, cohesion and expectations drive team performance. For a team responsible for managing millions in public funds where accountability is paramount, what is the balance between creating a culture of trust and maintaining necessary layers of oversight?

Trust and accountability are not opposites. In fact, clear expectations, transparency and consistent accountability are what make trust possible. Positive reinforcement does not eliminate the need for difficult conversations – it makes them more effective.

I let folks on my teams know what they’re doing well and where they need support. Ask: How can we get you there? Do you need more training, shadowing, access to equipment or hands on deck to meet the standard?

When roles, metrics and decision rights are explicit, people know where they stand. That clarity reduces anxiety, minimizes defensiveness and allows teams to perform at a high level without fear-based micromanagement.

You advocate for fueling success through inclusivity and diversity. From a confidence and performance perspective, how does fostering a sense of belonging among staff translate into improved financial management, better resource allocation or greater innovation?

We often romanticize diverse teams. The reality is that truly diverse teams can be clunky, slower at first and occasionally uncomfortable. That’s not a flaw – it’s the feature.

Differing perspectives introduce productive tension. That tension, when managed well, leads to better financial decisions, smarter resource allocation and more innovative problem-solving.

Belonging doesn’t have to come from being alike. Belonging comes from being acknowledged for who you are and what you uniquely and genuinely bring to your team. When people feel that their individual perspectives and contributions are valued, it gives them the confidence to challenge assumptions, flag risks earlier and propose alternatives that homogenous teams often miss.

School districts serve incredibly diverse communities and business decisions must reflect that. How can a school business leader, using the principles of self-confidence, ensure that underrepresented staff voices are heard and valued, even when those perspectives challenge the status quo?

From a self-confidence perspective, this begins with the leader.

Leaders who are secure in their competence don’t need consensus to feel validated. They don’t fear dissent – they invite it. Creating space for underrepresented voices requires confidence strong enough to tolerate discomfort.

Practically, this means:

• Actively soliciting perspectives from those who speak least, not most.
• Rotating assignments for high-profile tasks and projects so that the “usual suspects” or the most eager volunteers aren’t the only ones with opportunities for growth and promotion.
• Rewarding thoughtful dissent rather than only alignment.
• Separating challenge to ideas from challenge to authority.

People around the tables I lead will tell you they often hear me say, “That’s a great question. Thanks for bringing that forward.” Or, “Tell me more about that. How will it move us toward our goal?”

Leaning in to other people’s ideas teaches those at the table that their contributions are welcome and appreciated. When leaders model this behavior, they send a powerful signal: Your voice matters here. That sense of psychological safety doesn’t dilute standards – it sharpens them. It leads to more rigorous scrutiny of decisions, fewer blind spots, and ultimately, better stewardship of public resources.

Inclusivity isn’t about being comfortable. It’s about having enough confidence in your leader and team to contribute fully and honestly.

Dr. Ivan Joseph is an expert at coaching and developing individual confidence, fostering high performance in teams and executives, all with a focus on diversity. Through his engaging keynotes sessions, Dr. Ivan will elevate your mindset, leadership, and team dynamics.