Read The Confidence Myth Online
Authors: Helene Lerner
Answer | Response percentages |
|---|---|
Yes | 50.4% |
No | 27.1% |
I don't know | 21.1% |
No responses | 1.3% |
7. Do you feel confident in your workplace?
Answer | Response percentages |
|---|---|
Yes | 84.4% |
No | 14.5% |
No responses | <1.0% |
8. If you feel confident in your workplace, which of the following practices have enhanced your confidence? (Check all that apply.)
Answer | Response percentages |
|---|---|
Having a leader or mentor who appreciates and respects me | 66.3% |
Meeting my deadlines and staying on top of my work | 67.3% |
Being recognized formally with promotions and raises | 44.0% |
Acknowledgment from my peers, direct reports, and leaders | 70.3% |
Using my skills and making an impact | 86.3% |
Other | 12.4% |
9. If you don't feel confident in your workplace, which of the following practices have inhibited your confidence? (Check all that apply.)
Answer | Response percentages |
|---|---|
Having a leader who micromanages and disrespects me | 53.5% |
Missing deadlines and falling behind | 20.5% |
Having colleagues who are uncooperative and overly critical | 45.7% |
Feeling disconnected to my job because the work does not leverage my skills | 49.2% |
Other | 20.2% |
10. Do you feel confident in your personal life?
Answer | Response percentages |
|---|---|
Yes | 83.7% |
No | 15.3% |
No responses | <1.0% |
11. If you do feel confident in your personal life, which of the following practices have enhanced your confidence?
(Check all that apply.)
Answer | Response percentagses |
|---|---|
I surround myself with people who believe in me | 60.2% |
I was led to believe early on that I could achieve anything I worked for | 52.5% |
I have a sense of myself that is not dependent upon what others think of me | 67.7% |
I feel I can impact my surroundings | 66.6% |
I feel I can make mistakes and recover from them | 76.4% |
Other | 11.7% |
12. If you don't feel confident in your personal life, which of the following practices have inhibited your confidence? (Check all that apply.)
Answer | Response percentages |
|---|---|
My friends and family don't take me seriously | 17.5% |
I can't measure up to the expectations of others | 24.8% |
I can't measure up to my personal expectations | 54.9% |
I don't feel I have much impact | 29.1% |
Fear of failure | 48.0% |
Other | 16.3% |
13. Is there a difference between how confident you feel at work or at home?
Answer | Response percentages |
|---|---|
Yes | 57.5% |
No | 41.6% |
No responses | <1.0% |
14. What would you do if you had more confidence?
Answer | Response percentages |
|---|---|
I would say no to things without feeling guilty | 42.1% |
I would say what I think, regardless of the opinions of others | 35.4% |
I would end unhealthy relationships | 29.5% |
I would reach for higher career and personal goals | 57.8% |
Other | 15.5% |
15. Do you have a belief in a power greater than yourself? If so, how does that affect your confidence?
403 responses (free-writing)
16. How does your level of confidence affect the risks you are willing to take?
511 responses (free-writing)
17. What might you do to become more confident?
(Check all that apply.)
Answer | Response percentages |
|---|---|
Take a course on the topic | 16.7% |
Do more inner reflection | 48.5% |
Read a self-help book | 26.8% |
Counter negative mind-talk with more affirming thoughts | 58.2% |
Find a “confidence buddy” to hold you accountable for taking self-affirming actions | 32.9% |
Seek out a coach or a therapist | 34.8% |
Other | 20.7% |
18. What would your “adult self” say to your “younger self” to inspire her/him to have more confidence?
514 responses (free-writing)
19. What age range do you fall into?
Answer | Response percentages |
|---|---|
20 or under | <1.0% |
21â25 | 6.7% |
26â30 | 9.5% |
31â35 | 11.7% |
36â40 | 9.9% |
41â45 | 13.4% |
46â50 | 16.4% |
51+ | 30.4% |
No responses | <1.0% |
20. What best describes your current position?
Answer | Response percentages |
|---|---|
Unemployed | 3.9% |
Student | 2.6% |
Freelancer | 3.3% |
Entry-level employee | 5.0% |
Experienced nonmanager | 24.4% |
Mid-level manager | 18.5% |
Senior manager | 15.3% |
Business owner | 7.2% |
Entrepreneur | 7.2% |
Stay-at-home mother | <1.0% |
Educator | 2.4% |
Retired | <1.0% |
Other | 7.8% |
No responses | <1.0% |
21. What gender do you identify with?
Answer | Response percentages |
|---|---|
Female | 95.1% |
Male | 2.9% |
Other | 1.1% |
No responses | <1.0% |
1.
Katty Kay and Claire Shipman,
The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance
â
What Women Should Know
(New York: Harper Business, 2014), 17â18.
2.
See appendix B for full survey background, methodology, and instrument.
1.
“Make Innovation Fun,” WomenWorking.com, March 2013,
http://www.womenworking.com/how-make-innovation-fun
.
2.
Sheryl Sandberg,
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
(New York: Knopf, 2013), 8.
3.
Georges Desvaux, Sandrine Devillard-Hoellinger, and Mary C. Meaney, “A Business Case for Women,”
McKinsey Quarterly
(2008): 4.
4.
“Make It Happen: Mentors, Dreams, Success,” first potential broadcast September 1, 2002, presented by South Carolina Educational Television, distributed by American Public Television, a production of Creative Expansions Inc.
5.
“In Her Heels,” WomenWorking.com, July 2011,
http://www.womenworking.com/her-heels
.
6.
“Make a Real Impact,” WomenWorking.com, January 2012,
http://www.womenworking.com/make-real-impact
.
1.
Sylvia Ann Hewlett,
Executive Presence: The Missing Link between Merit and Success
(New York: Harper Business, 2014), 24.
2.
Ibid., 145.
3.
“Is It Arrogance, No!” WomenWorking.com, September 24, 2014,
http://www.womenworking.com/it-arrogance-no
.
4.
Hewlett,
Executive Presence
, 65.
5.
Ibid., 98.
1.
Sheryl Sandberg,
Lean In for Graduates
(New York: Knopf, 2014), 105.
1.
“How to Be Happy in 2014,”
World One
, CNN International, first broadcast, January 20, 2014.
2.
Jessica Valenti, “She Who Dies with the Most âLikes' Wins?”
The Nation
, November 29, 2012,
http://www.thenation.com/blog/171520/she-who-dies-most-likes-wins#
.
3.
Sandberg,
Lean In for Graduates
, 65.
4.
Hannah Riley Bowles, Linda Babcock, and Lei Lai, “Social Incentives for Gender Differences in the Propensity to Initiate Negotiations: Sometimes It Does Hurt to Ask,”
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
103, no. 1 (2007): 84â103, doi: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.09.001.
5.
Sandberg,
Lean In for Graduates
, 60.
6.
Ibid., 59.
7.
Ellen Galinsky, “Moving beyond Perfectionism and Finding a Work-Life Fit: Lessons from Marissa Mayer and Anne-Marie Slaughter,”
Huffington Post
, July 20, 2012,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-galinsky/marissa-mayer_b_1690577.html
.
8.
Helene Lerner,
Time for Me: Simple Pleasures for Women Who Do Too Much
(Illinois: Simple Truths-Sourcebooks, 2015).
1.
Helene Lerner,
Smart Women Take Risks: Six Steps for Conquering Your Fears and Making the Leap to Success
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006), 61.
2.
Sylvia Ann Hewlett,
Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor: The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career
(Massachusetts: Harvard Business Review Press, 2013), 20.
3.
Ibid., 21.
4.
“Building Relationships with Sponsors,”
WomenWorking.com
, October 2013,
http://www.womenworking.com/building-and-maintaining-relationships-sponsors
.
5.
Tara Mohr,
Playing Big: Find Your Voice, Your Mission, Your Message
(New York: Gotham Books, 2014), 197â198.
6.
Hewlett,
Forget a Mentor
, 20.
7.
Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Kerrie Peraino, Laura Sherbin, and Karen Sumberg, “The Sponsor Effect: Breaking through the Last Glass Ceiling,”
Harvard Business Review
(December 2010): 10,
http://www.globalwomen.org.nz/site/globalwomen/files/pdfs/The%20Sponsor%20Effect.pdf
.
1.
Henry Mintzberg, “Planning on the Left Side and Managing on the Right,”
Harvard Business Review
54, no. 4 (1976): 57.
2.
Mohr,
Playing Big
, 63.
3.
John Hayes, Christopher W. Allinson, and Steven J. Armstrong, “Intuition, Women Managers and Gendered Stereotypes,”
Personnel Review
33, no. 4 (2004): 403â417.
4.
Christopher W. Allinson and John Hayes, “The Cognitive Style Index: A Measure of IntuitionâAnalysis for Organizational Research,”
Journal of Management Studies
33, no. 1 (1996): 119â135; and Christopher W. Allinson and John Hayes,
The Cognitive Style Index: Technical Manual and User Guide
(Harlow, UK: Pearson Education, 2012), available online at
http://www.talentlens.co.uk/assets/legacy-documents/71874/csi-manual.pdf
.
5.
Malcolm Gladwell,
Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking
(New York: Penguin Books, 2006) 23.