Why the traditional understanding of confidence no longer the only and full story in the workplace and leadership, and how Authentic Confidence provides us with a new narrative.
Leadership and confidence
Leadership and confidence often go hand in hand in the workplace. In 2019 I was watching a peer present her doctoral work on leadership and confidence a few years ago. Another fellow Occupational Psychologist with many years’ experience was also watching. At the end of the presentation, when the presenter was taking questions, he said “Is this research necessary? Surely by the time someone becomes a leader, they have all the confidence they need?” I’ll give you one guess as to his gender, skin colour and sexuality. I suspect you won’t be surprised to hear it was a white, straight cis man was asking the question. An honest question that reflected the unrealised privilege that white straight cis-men carry.
What is there to be done when the dominant group experiences great ease with getting promoted into leadership roles? If they are doing little additional to earn the promotion, and even being “over-promoted”? All the time while women, Black, gay or lesbian, disabled or neuro-divergent typically do not have these same easy rides in their careers. There’s a problem with the system when patterns of inequity are happening and yet seem to be invisible to the dominant group.
Male shaped workplaces
Many years before that I was at conference and remember vividly, watching the impressive Professor Beverly Alimo-Metcalfe expose the reality that leadership theory has been developed around men and still served men to the day. This is seen in how leadership has been defined, recruited for, and rewarded. It may seem unthinkable now, but in the UK, as late as 1946 women were required to leave the Civil Service upon getting married, and in teaching until 1944. In the Foreign Office (now the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office – FCDO), women were still required to resign when they married, up until 1973. It’s no wonder that psychologists built leadership theory on male leaders, as women didn’t have much of a chance of becoming leaders before being ejected from the workplace.
Alimo-Metcalfe’s presentation was an eye opener for me back then, and really got me thinking about whether other workplace constructs describe a male experience. It’s not just about leadership. Whilst the marriage bar described above may seem like a lifetime ago, it meant that the FCDO didn’t need to have policies in place for women’s issues such as menopause until very recently. These are the kind of policies that can severely impact a women’s confidence in the workplace, feeling like you don’t belong in the organization, and it doesn’t support your needs.
When it comes to confidence, there has historically been a narrative of “just believe in yourself” and all you wish for will come to you. This simply isn’t the reality for many who are from under-represented groups. Communities such as those from marginalised ethnicities – the global majority, LGBTQ+, carers, disabled, neurodiversity often report having to work harder to get to the same place.
Confidence in under-represented groups
There are so many distressing and frustrating stories, where people from under-represented groups have been openly discriminated against, or a thin veil has been used. A white, straight cis man gets promoted over and above them (‘them’ being from an under-represented group) who is very well equipped for the job. Sometimes this happens without even a whisper of a fair process. No job advert, no opportunity to apply and demonstrate competence.
Other pictures include women or people of colour being given promotions for jobs that are somehow “less than” the work their white male counterparts are given. They don’t get promotions in high impact, high visibility jobs. Rather they are given work in peripheral roles, work that plays a supporting communal role rather than work that is seen as agentic and critical to the beating heart of the organisation.
When people face these types of situations it diminishes and erodes their confidence over time. They don’t get to say “I believe in myself” and doors open for them. No, they have to work harder, smarter, longer. They have to put up with their ideas being blocked or appropriated by more senior leaders. They have to hide personal struggles or challenges for fear of giving ammunition. They have to hide allegiances with their own people or community, for fear of being accused of ‘only supporting their own’.
This is not news to anyone who has been at all interested in understanding diversity, equity and inclusion. I am not describing wildly new or previously unheard of experiences. I am flagging this to explain why it is important to support everyone in the workplace in a way that is adaptive to their individual needs. One size does not fit all, and there are too many support mechanisms out there that fail to observe this.
Authentic Confidence to shift perspectives
There are many diverse groups who don’t experience life and work in the same way. Yet they are expected to be grateful for opportunities, and aspire to be like the dominant group of white, cis straight neurotypical men. The Authentic Confidence support tools we offer are a means to supporting individuals in their careers and wider lives in a way that honours and draws inspiration from the individual’s own background. It is also a great way to open up the thinking and perspective of those from the dominant group. In 1895, Mary T. Lathrap captured the importance of this in her poem Judge Softly. “Just walk a mile in his moccasins” tells us the importance of considering another’s context, challenges, and background before forming opinions or judgements. This means we are creating shifts in the system, rather than inadvertently ‘fixing’ those from under-represented groups. This work is everyone’s work.
If you want to experience a taste of authentic confidence, you can Contact Us and request our free personal development pdf. Even better, sign up to The Authentic Confidence Hub.
Author: Dr Anna Kane
