50% of women in business admitted feelings of self-doubt in a recent survey compared to only 31% of men.
Self employed women in business gain from support
The survey by the Institute of Leadership and Management was asking about ambition and gender at work. Some of the findings indicated that women are holding themselves back…and not a glass ceiling created by a male-dominated culture.
Obviously what the survey could not validate was whether feeling less confident equated with a poor performance in reality. But this has to be the question. Maybe those who are aware of self doubt simply have higher standards?
People with more imagination can imagine things going wrong, while those with less do not anticipate problems. In fact the fear can be part of the experience. The really scary thing can be what is important. To quote uber marketer and thinker Seth Godin “if it scares you that is the signal that you should do it” on David Siteman Garland’s interview
I find that many female small business owners are honest enough to admit to feelings of lack of self confidence.
Sometimes they cannot see what is special about themselves, sometimes those qualities have not yet been validated with money and status so seem unimportant, and sometimes they need inspiration or challenge.
However once they get support and validation, they go on to take risks and realise their potential.
And of course the great advantage of being self employed is that nobody else is making the rules about the priorities between work and home life.