Confidence has a place within Machiavellianism/The 48 Laws of Power, law 28 goes into more detail.

  • Boldness makes you seem more powerful with the spectacle of its grandiosity whilst simultaneously obscuring your weaknesses. It is fundamental in illusion because it keeps people distracted, preventing them from finding your thumbscrew. The predatory are always trying to ascertain what your thumbscrew is through deep analysis; continuous spectacle is thus necessary for bogging down their analytical process with misdirection. The less intelligent they are, the easier this is.

  • There is boldness in polarisation. An oft successful way to seem unique and powerful is to undermine the ways of your opponent by nonchalantly disregarding them.

  • Following from the previous point, in any scenario where there are two opposing forces, reticence can be the difference between life and death. When you hesitate you give the opposition the confidence to strike, for rightfully or not they assume your uncertainty stems from fear. Confidence feeds bravado, bravado can mask your fears when aptly portrayed.

  • Timidity makes you prey, even the weak will become guileful enough to try exploit you if they believe you a fool. This is a matter of opportunistic disrespect rather than sadistic hate.

  • Timidity makes people awkward. Timidity is easily detected if not masked by bravado.

  • In contrast, boldness can make others feel more comfortable. This is oft why unconfident men are more well-liked when intoxicated than when sober. Such a man has however briefly, become bolder.

  • Boldness can be cultivated by the challenges of struggle. If you are comfortable in your life you will grow timid. Healthy paranoia is realising that comfort can be dangerous in excessive amounts. With healthy paranoia, boldness becomes natural, for one is more alert, attuned to their surroundings.

  • Reluctance restricts movement whilst boldness allows room for manoeuvre. Reluctance is oft analysis paralysis, allowing the unending discourse of logic to control your thoughts. Boldness rejects logical perfectionism in favour of goal-orientated motivation. He who is bold knows how to get outside of his head.

  • Unannounced boldness keeps the element of surprise on your side. Reluctance gives others a chance to think, allowing them to strategize and weigh up their options.

  • Boldness can force the enemy into a state of reactivity.

The rest of the article is bullet pointed, so easy to read (don't worry, I will still write about the laws in essay form too.) If you want to see all of the bullet points (there are 40) check out the full article

http://illimitablemen.com/2015/06/23/notes-on-law-28-enter-action-with-boldness/