Building the Confidence to Take on the Odyssey of Personal Growth

Can you guess our favorite character from the Odyssey? If you guessed Mentor, then you are right.

Did you know that the word Mentor has its roots in Greek mythology!  While Odysseus is away, he asks his friend Mentor to guide and advise Prince Telemachus. Legend has it that the goddess Athena also mentors the prince by counseling him and providing wisdom.

It’s no myth that mentoring is an important component of Breaking Bread™️. Our unique format builds leadership skills in a peer-group mentoring format and this offers long-term benefits well beyond the program duration.

We provide a supportive environment while challenging participants to grow to their best potential. This balance of support and challenge helps participants build confidence while learning new skills. Our participants have shared how their new sense of confidence has helped them continue to learn and stretch themselves beyond the 6-weeks.  

It’s great to see the positive feedback from our program participants. Breaking Bread participants overwhelmingly responded with “Strongly Agree” when asked if they would recommend the program to others. It isn’t uncommon for participants to refer more participants. While the positive feedback is great, it’s truly gratifying to see participants gain confidence.

Confidence is one of the 4 pillars of our leadership and mentorship program, along with Competency, Connections and Community.

Confidence can be tricky because it is a belief in your ability to do something. If you have never tried something before it is natural to question yourself. Recent studies indicate that self-doubt and lack of confidence in leadership abilities are amongst the top struggles for mid-managers. This trend has accelerated across age groups and genders due to hybrid work and lack of formal development programs. Mid-managers are critical to ensuring organizations deliver on their promises to customers, clients, teams and board members. 

Unfortunately, this prevents people from saying yes to new projects, speaking up when decisions are being made and losing the opportunity to grow in fast-paced, deadline-oriented environments.

We help our participants gain confidence, one skill and one step at a time. They receive structure and frameworks to try a new skill, reflect on lessons learned and celebrate wins and missteps with their peer-group. Participants realize that failure is just data! Failure helps you learn and course correct. It’s reassuring to share experiences with peers and realize that you aren’t the only one facing challenges. Confidence also grows like a snowball every time you take a positive step or learn from a mistake.

If you have been thinking of doing something, I hope this helps make it less overwhelming. I’m not suggesting you embark on a new odyssey (although I can’t wait to watch the movie) but I do encourage you to try something new. Growth is a journey; we’ve made it simpler, more supportive, and a lot more fun. While there’s never a perfect time to learn and grow, this is a great time with new cohorts starting this August and September. 

Akanksha Aga — Founder, Breaking Bread