A recent Forbes article (9/26/11), “You Must Trust Yourself to make a Real Difference,” by Glenn Llopis, talks about trusting yourself as a learned skill. “It requires a deep understanding and acceptance of who you are and what you represent.”‘

The article goes on to say that if you trust yourself, ask your colleagues to answer the following three questions:

– What consumer brand do they associate you with most and why?
– What do they wish they knew more about you and why?
– What great leader does your leadership style most closely emulate and why?

The author designed a three-phase, five-step methodology that has helped executives learn themselves and therefore, become more influential in the workplace.

I’m reminder of Steve Job’s words at the commencement speech he gave at Stanford in 2005: “And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”