You may be under the perception that the biggest difference between men and women in the workforce is their levels of pay, or perhaps even their ranking or seniority at a company.
However, the most common factor that correlates thorough all industries is the imbalance in confidence between male and female professionals. Namely, that men have more of it, or they pretend that they do in order to get where they want to in the business world. This is an ability that businesswomen seem to struggle to emulate.
In fact, studies have shown that although there is no significant difference between performance or ability based on gender, women are much less likely to self-promote or self-advocate than men.
However, if women want to continue to thrive in the workplace and smash through the proverbial glass ceiling, then clearly, they need to not only have more belief in their own abilities, but they also need to understand how to use their confidence to achieve their professional goals.
Listen up women of the world. You may not know it yet, but confidence is your greatest weapon, and here’s why . . .
Confidence Allows You to Take Ownership of Your Strengths
Having the ability to be self-aware and recognise your own strengths is vital in achieving your goals professionally. In fact, research shows that self-awareness directly correlates with success.
Focus your efforts on projects and areas of expertise that you thrive in and your confidence will soar. You will also feel more motivated and able to achieve success.
It can also be beneficial to find ways to make your day-to-day professional life more productive so that you can see tangible results quicker and therefore, boost your confidence levels immediately. Businesswomen often do not like to delegate, and instead prefer to struggle on their own, which is understandable as they do not want to appear weak. So, why not embark on one of the top time management training courses and learn how to work smarter, not harder?
Confidence Enables You to Learn From Your Mistakes
You make a mistake at work and immediately try to brush over it and pretend it hasn’t happened, whilst at the same time berating yourself for the making the error in the first place.
Sound familiar?
Women are much more likely than men to take a setback to heart, especially a professional one. When in fact, they should be reflecting upon what has happened and seeking out ways to bounce back. Confidence gives you the ability to admit when you have made an error and to come back stronger than ever before.
Confidence Encourages You to Take Risks
Men are statistically more likely to ask for a pay rise than women in the UK. The main reason is women do not feel confident enough to ask for one. Therefore, it is vital that businesswomen find the confidence to speak up about what they deserve, as well feel able to voice their opinions in meetings and brainstorming sessions if they hope to progress in their career as much as their male counterparts.
Confidence is Essential for Achieving Your Aspirations
If you are currently struggling to self-promote in the workplace, focus on where you want to be in the next 5 or 10 years, and then think about what you need to do to achieve this.
Do you think it will happen by you simply keeping your head down and quietly doing what is required of you?
Of course not! Once you realise this you will be able to understand how self-promotion and confidence is crucial in achieving your career goals.
Although it can be hard to find your inner confidence, and even harder to let it shine outwards in your professional life, once you find the ability to self-promote and become more self-assured, you will never look back!
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April is the Confidence Month at Women’s Business Club.
Learn how to grow in confidence, join us for a meetup (virtual networking available) or join our Facebook group.