How creating a ‘climate of confidence’ could help more women succeed

As Women’s History Month gives us the chance to highlight the achievements of women all over the world, it’s also a reminder that, for many women, being fully recognized and rewarded for their work feels like an impossible goal. While we celebrate, we also have to ask: why are there still so few women at the top? According to leadership coaches, advertisers, employees, and many working women themselves, the issue is confidence.?

Lack of confidence is often cited as one reason why many women struggle to advance in their careers, as self-doubt stops them from sharing their ideas at meetings, putting themselves forward for a big project, or asking for a raise. A study by Encompass Equality found that nearly 80% of women say they regularly lack confidence when it comes to speaking up at work and in their careers in general.?

While most studies on workplace confidence focus on women, there is enough research to show the issue also affects other groups, including people of color, people with disabilities, and those in the LGBTQIA+ community. In a survey by consultancy The Grey Area looking at the workplace experiences of Black, Asian, and minority ethnic Britons, respondents listed “lack of confidence and self-esteem” among the top 5 factors impacting their career success.?

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Anyone who feels in need of a confidence boost has their pick of resources, from workplace training programs to self-help apps to business articles touting the effectiveness of strong body language. But there is also a growing chorus of experts who say we are looking at confidence all wrong, and that focusing on self-esteem ignores the real obstacles that stop so many people from climbing the career ladder.

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Exploring the question of confidence

Everyone has their own definition of confidence, but when asked, women often touch on some common themes, including: having faith in your ability and pushing through self-doubt; being able to turn your skills into actionable positive steps; understanding that failure is part of progress; and being comfortable with self-promotion to make sure those around you recognize your accomplishments.

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There are signs that working women have more to be confident about than ever before. Data pulled together by the staffing firm Frank Recruitment Group shows 87% of Fortune 500 companies that were led by women in 2021 reported above-average profits, compared to 78% of companies that weren’t. And according to a recent report by Morgan Stanley Capital International, the percentage of companies globally with at least 30% of their boards made up of women rose to 38% last year, up from 33% the year before.?

But progress is still frustratingly slow, and many underrepresented groups, including women, say some of the blame goes to low confidence at work – and many employers agree. Part of the problem stems from misunderstanding what confidence is in the first place, says Sally Helgesen, best-selling author and renowned expert on women’s leadership.

It isn’t about being the most experienced person in the room or knowing all the answers, Helgesen says. “Confidence is the belief that you can handle whatever is thrown at you or know how to get the support you’ll need in order to do so,” she says.?

That belief doesn’t come from repeating affirmations or standing in the “Wonder Woman” pose – it comes with time, Helgesen says. In her new book, “Rising Together”, she devotes a chapter to the idea that true confidence can come only from competence, which builds up as we develop our skills and make connections that help us do our jobs well.??

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“Whatever we call them – support systems, networks – they are a major and very under-identified source of confidence,” Helgesen says. “The more we can make that clear for women, from the first day of their first job, the more we’ll see that growth in confidence. None of us can do everything on our own.”??

The backlash against leaning in

From the day a woman starts working, the list of life events and everyday occurrences that knock her confidence starts to grow. Taking time off for illness or to care for children or elderly parents, changing jobs, experiencing bias or being excluded by colleagues, and lack of support from managers are just a few of the factors that interviewees for the 2022 Women’s Workplace Confidence report said contributed to their low confidence.

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It’s these types of confidence killers – not confidence itself – that we should be looking to fix, say sociologists Shani Orgad and Rosalind Gill, whose book “Confidence Culture” warns against putting the responsibility of confidence-building on individuals. Instead, they say, companies should do the hard work of making structural and policy changes to allow their employees to feel valued and supported, which, in turn, breeds confidence.?

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“What you need is (the) institution to take a look at itself, be very self-critical, and look at the institutionalized forms of racism, sexism, homophobia that are being enacted,” Gill says.

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The “one-size-fits-all” thinking that sees confidence as the solution to workplace inequality overlooks the fact that not everyone feels safe asserting themselves at work, say the sociologists.?

LGBTQIA+ workers might feel that exhibiting more confidence could draw attention to them and risk making them vulnerable to prejudice, for example. And many women, particularly women of color, discover that behaving confidently at work can lead to them being labeled as aggressive or hurt their careers in other ways.?

A 2022 study looking at how self-promotion can impact the progress of Black workers showed that Black employees who talk about their accomplishments at work are given lower performance ratings by white managers compared to white, Asian, and Latinx employees, who receive higher ratings for doing the same thing. The researchers said that bias was likely a result of white managers holding negative stereotypes about Black employees being less competent and reacting negatively when someone goes against that stereotype.?

Focusing on confidence as a driver of success can leave women in a no-win situation. In a recent study on confidence in men and women, Harvard Business Review found if women fail to advance in their careers, leaders are quick to blame lack of self-confidence. But if women follow the bombardment of advice to “lean in” and “be more assertive” – even if it means hiding their authentic selves so they can fake it ‘til they make it – they can come off as overconfident, which their colleagues and managers might assume actually stems from low self-esteem. “ Confidence is not just gendered, it’s weaponized against women,” say the study’s authors.?

Why confidence needs community

When women stop seeing lack of confidence as a personality deficit they need to continuously work on and instead examine what lies behind their struggle with self-esteem, they often pinpoint failings in management and company culture that foster insecurity, Orgad says. “Sexism, pay gaps, lack of flexibility – these are the big issues that result in a lack of confidence,” she says.

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A survey led by the online women’s career community Fairygodboss backs that up. When women were asked what had caused them to lose confidence at work, three-quarters said they lacked supportive environments, development opportunities, and professional networks.?

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To be clear, Orgad and Gill see the benefits of boosting women’s confidence in the workplace. “Who can be against confidence?” Orgad asks. “Of course, we want women to feel more empowered and more confident to claim recognition and ask for a pay rise.” But they believe building a more confident workforce requires employers and policymakers to make changes to everything from health care to parental leave to how employees are evaluated, including shedding old-fashioned ideas of what confidence looks like.

There are steps companies can take right away to help foster equality in their workforce without relying on perceptions of confidence, including:?

• Make sure all employees have the same level of access to their managers, which could require reaching out to those who are less comfortable asking for time to discuss their work.?
• Redesign hiring and promotion processes to give consideration to potential as well as proven experience, and use objective metrics – not just performance reviews – to track employees’ progress.?
• Create space for underrepresented groups, including women, to talk openly about their own achievements and accomplishments and, most importantly, listen to them when they do.?

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The common theme is that confidence needs a solid support system. The real key to success, says Gill, is employees, executives, and government working together as a community to create “a climate of confidence … a workplace that values people, gives them proper leave, doesn’t have bullying, and treats people fairly”.

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When that happens, more women might finally reach the heights they deserve.??

Author: Lauren Dawson , #IAmRemarkable Program Lead, Americas.