As a part of my executive coaching practice, I understand just how important confidence is when achieving organisational and career goals. Competence in itself is not enough; Confidence is a critical enabler like a key is in a lock. Research shows that men and women in business are equally competent, however women are not as confident as men. Can you imagine the strategic advantage an organisation would have if all employees were both competent and confident? Investing in building confidence is a “smart and insightful “thing for organisations to do. There is much research into the subject as to the reasons why women are often less confident than men. From genetics, hormones, our evolutionary origins, or how we have been socialised. For example girls at school have been socialised and rewarded for being “good girls” studying hard and being polite. Boys on the other hand are more rambunctious, they tease each other they absorb more scolding and, in fact, according to research, they are criticized eight times more than girls. Boys therefore learn to be more resilient and more likely to let criticism wash over them. Consequently in the world of business, men are more likely to be socialized to have a competitive advantage. Whatever the reason it is hard to deny the impact confidence can have on individuals or organisations. In fact a survey of 200 senior women in America stated that the number one limiting factor for women was lack of confidence. So what is confidence? According to a leading psychologist Professor Richard Perry “confidence is a belief in one’s ability to succeed, a belief that stimulates action.” In my role as a coach I often have conversations with clients about this important topic of confidence. Often women believe they are confident but when you drill down they are not acting in a confident manner. An example may illustrate this point further. I had one client who was just a delight, totally capable, well qualified and she had a great breadth of experience. A position became available within the organisation that she was well qualified for however she was reluctant to do so because she did not believe she had all the skills to do the job. Sound familiar? In contrast, a male who reported to her was intending to apply for the position. As a part of our coaching session I explained that she was fitting the female stereotype. Those were:
- In studies, men overestimate their abilities and performance, and women underestimate both.
- Women applied for a promotion only when they met 100{01332a80e2e652688e18927fa9a6162580960d47bc08263a3993439d666dcd52} of the qualifications. Men applied when they met 50{01332a80e2e652688e18927fa9a6162580960d47bc08263a3993439d666dcd52}.
I challenged her to help me understand, why, if she wanted the position, she would even give it a second thought? The purpose was not to over analyse a great attribute of women, but to stimulate her to act. The ability to act is the key to confidence. Women are less likely to act for many reasons, which include, not acting untileverything is perfect, ruminating too long, over analysing, not thinking they are good enough, the list goes on. While men on the other hand, are more likely to believe they can do it and jump in boots and all. (This of course has downs sides particularly with the impact of risk but that is another topic). Assuming both possess the required skill, how much more successful would an organisation be if everyone in the organisation was both competent and confident. The insightful organisations are investing in coaching, mentoring and training for this very reason. Recently I have been asked by one such organisation to help managers understand the importance of recognising lack of confidence in their employees and giving them a suite of tools to help them to develop this capability. I have also been asked to do a series of action learning workshops to help women develop their confidence at work. The value in this approach is that both the men and women are being provided with information just in different ways. It is therefore not seen as “secret women’s business”. This is an assignment I have taken onwith great zeal, as I understand how much valuable this can be to an organisation. What I clearly understand is confidence comes from within and education and mentoring may provide either an external catalyst or additional knowledge and skill. Confidence can be a tricky beast. In some strange way it is quite complex and has to fit within a set of unspoken social norms. The amount and how one smiles, has more relevance for women than men. The way a woman presents, if not careful can be perceived as aggressive rather than assertive. The list goes on and yet in other ways it is as simple as being comfortable in your own skin, in any environment wether it is at work, or with family of friends. I remember being once told, by a very capable young woman, that often women were concerned about being perceived as arrogant rather than confident and the consequence of this was they were less likely to act. Can you imagine a man ever worrying about this and yes, it fits perfectly into the nature of females. Yet the very fact that it is a concern is a reason to act. I suggested that if this was a concern, than to seek feedback from someone they respect and then decide, if any modifications are required, address any issues and then move on. They may be surprised. As I said in the beginning, can you imagine the strategic advantage an organisation would have if all employees were both competent and confident? Can you imagine the impact of this on your business? Can you imagine not acting if employees don’t have the physical skill to do the job? Why then can you imagine, not acting to develop employee’s confidence?
