What can company leaders do about the gender confidence gap?
Gender differences in confidence are quite dramatic.
Men overestimate their abilities and performance, while women underestimate both. Even though their actual performance is similar in quality or quantity.
While women do get relatively more opportunities to lead teams and companies, compared to, say, 20, 30, 40 years ago, it’s still hard to encourage the attitude because of the gender confidence gap.
Not all women are given the chance to feel like they can make a difference in a team.
Women can limit their career directions, even their dreams, and frequently express that they don’t feel they deserve their job and are “imposters” who could be found out at any moment. They found that women worry more about being disliked, appearing unattractive, outshining others, or grabbing too much attention.
To address the gender gap, companies can maybe invest in, say, classes or webinars. At the same time, companies should stop equating low confidence with low competence.
In my opinion, there is no “stay in your lane, I don’t believe that men are the stronger sex!
Women leaders in any industry have the responsibility to encourage all employees: not just women. However, we need to also write off any concept that uncertainty or shyness equals incompetence. It’s 2021: Things are different. But of course, we have to encourage assertion, too.
“When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are”
I didn’t get where I am, just by staying in my lane. I powered through, failed, and I made it look good even when it wasn’t going my way.
It’s not what you are that’s holding you back, it’s what you think you are not.
Building self-confidence:
- Mindset: It has been said that self-confidence is what you think about yourself, and self-esteem is what you think others think of you. Focus on your strengths rather than trying to possess things you are not.
- Dress to Impress – yourself: This has been shown to make a difference in how someone feels about themselves. The bottom line is, people feel more confident when they know they look good.
- Speech & Tonality: Talk with conviction! What you say and how you say it transmits a great deal about your level of confidence. It also shapes how you feel about yourself.
- Communication is key: Confident individuals speak clearly and are able to translate their thoughts more effectively, which gives them more authority with others while also making them feel more confident within themselves.
Something we all need to consider when attracting, hiring, and retaining talent – curious to hear your thoughts in the comments.
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