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Confidence: Why It’s the Key to Women’s Leadership - and workplace Retention
- Resilient Women Leaders
- May 28
- 6 min read
Introduction
Confidence isn’t a luxury; it’s the foundation of impactful leadership. However, internal doubts and external barriers can erode self-belief, holding even the most talented women back. At Resilient Women Leaders (RWL), we’ve seen how the Resilient Leaders Elements™ (RLE™) framework transforms uncertainty into strength, empowering women to step boldly into their full potential and stay there.
Confidence isn’t simply about charisma or visibility. It’s about self-trust: knowing you are capable, resourceful, and grounded in who you are. When women understand what they bring to the table and what gets in the way, they lead with resilience, clarity, and purpose.
"When you learn how much you're worth, you'll stop giving people discounts." Helen Keller
As we celebrate our fifth year as RWL, we are more convinced than ever: helping women be confident in who they are and what they do, is essential not only for individual growth, but also for organisational success.
Confidence and Retention: What Organisations Can’t Afford to Ignore
Loss of confidence doesn’t always look dramatic. It can show up quietly, in a passed-over promotion, in silence during meetings, in a resignation letter that doesn’t explain the real reason. For many women, confidence is chipped away by systemic and situational factors that go unaddressed:
Returning from maternity leave and finding themselves sidelined or uncertain about their identity
Being technically excellent, yet repeatedly passed over for leadership because no one has coached them to manage others
Facing unconscious bias or navigating leadership cultures that reward dominance over collaboration
Over time, these experiences create a hidden cost: talent drain. Women step back, scale down ambitions, or leave altogether, not because they lack capability, but because they lack support to regain belief in themselves.
Organisations that ignore this trend do so at their peril. Retaining women leaders isn’t just about benefits and flexibility—it’s about recognising confidence as a retention strategy.
Our Research: What Women Leaders Are Telling Us
Over two major research cycles (2020 and 2023), RWL surveyed women across industries and career stages to identify the key barriers that prevent them from reaching their full potential. Here is a sample of what we found:
Barrier | 2020 Avg. | 2023 Avg. |
Lack of Confidence | 76% | 66% |
Narrow, Hierarchical View of Leadership | 41% | 71% |
Imposter Syndrome & Self-Belief | 59% | 63% |
Lack of Appreciation of Emotional Intelligence | 65% | 62% |
Being Heard (Finding Your Voice) | 57% | 41% |
This small section of data tells a compelling story:
Confidence remains the single most cited barrier to achieving potential. Although it has improved (76% to 66%), it illustrates how entrenched this issue still is.
The sharp rise in frustration with narrow views of leadership reflects a disconnect between how many women lead (collaboratively, emotionally intelligently) and how leadership is still often perceived (top-down, authoritative).
Imposter syndrome, affecting 63%, is one of the most persistent and evenly distributed challenges across career stages, showing an increase as women advance in their careers.
"Don’t wait for confidence to show up—start showing up, and confidence will follow." Resilient Women Leaders
The RLE™ Framework: Two Sides of Confidence
At the core of the Resilient Leaders Elements™ (RLE) framework is a powerful insight: true confidence is built by knowing both who you are and what you do.
Who You Are
This side of the framework focuses on your leadership presence, your values, your emotional intelligence, and the intentional way you show up under pressure in service of others. It’s about awareness of self, others and the environment and the impact you have, how others experience you, and how you experience yourself as a leader.
What You Do
This side focuses on actions and decision-making - setting direction, making informed choices, and delivering results, even in complex environments. It’s about clarity of direction, consistency, and courage.
When you engage with both sides, you don’t just lead better, you lead from within, which means you're more prepared to cope with the inevitable ups and downs of leadership.
"She remembered who she was and the game changed." - Lalah Delia
Women who know their strengths and understand what might be getting in the way are better equipped to face challenges without internalising them. They interpret setbacks as feedback, not failure.
Real Scenarios: Where Confidence Makes the Difference
Priya, an operations lead, returned from maternity leave and found herself doubting whether she could handle the pressure. Through the RLE™ framework, she recognised her strength in making decisions under pressure, and began redefining her value beyond hours worked.
Jade, a project manager, had always been praised for delivery but felt frozen in senior meetings. The RLE™ revealed her strong Leadership Presence, and helped her shift from silence to influence by owning her voice.
Anna, a newly promoted team lead, felt like a fraud. She completed an RLE™ assessment and saw clear behavioural strengths. This allowed her to stop “proving herself” and start leading authentically.
These women didn’t just gain confidence. They regained it, by seeing clearly who they are and what they do.
Why Confidence is Core to Resilience
Confidence and resilience go hand in hand. When women leaders build confidence in both identity and action, they become more adaptable and more able to thrive in complexity. They:
Bounce back from setbacks faster
Handle ambiguity and change with greater calm
Lead others through uncertainty with compassion and clarity
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face." Eleanor Roosevelt
This is especially vital in today’s workplace, where change is constant. Leadership no longer means having all the answers, it means being grounded enough to guide through unknowns.
Practical Steps to Regain and Sustain Confidence
Take Stock with the RLE™ Diagnostic: See your leadership profile clearly—where you are strong, and where you can grow.
Set Behavioural Micro-Goals: Focus on tangible changes: speaking up once per meeting, delegating more intentionally, or asking for feedback weekly.
Challenge the Narrative: Replace “I’m not ready” with “I’m learning how.” Use data from your RLE™ and your strength mantra to push back on impostor thoughts with real evidence.
Build a Support Network: Confidence is relational. Surround yourself with women who celebrate growth, not just achievement.
Own Your Story: Practice naming your strengths and contributions regularly. Use reflective journaling or peer coaching to keep your narrative clear.
"Behind every successful woman is a tribe of other successful women who have her back." Unknown
A Message to Organisations: Invest in Confidence
If you want to retain your women leaders, confidence must be part of your strategy. Consider:
How are women supported after returning from leave?
Do promotion pathways include leadership development?
Are you equipping women to lead others, not just perform technically?
Are your managers trained to recognise confidence dips and respond with coaching, not criticism?
Investing in the RLE™ framework across your leadership population creates more resilient, confident teams, and reduces turnover rooted in invisible barriers.
"Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge." Simon Sinek
Celebrating 5 Years, and Building the Future
Alex Webb and Skye Deane founded Resilient Women Leaders (RWL) in 2020. Since then RWL has supported hundreds of women as they reclaim their confidence and redefine their leadership. What we’ve learned is clear: when women are supported to understand who they are and what they do best, they don’t just stay, they rise.
As we celebrate our five-year milestone this November, we remain more committed than ever to breaking down barriers, especially the invisible ones. Confidence may waiver, but with the right tools, support, and insight, it can always be regained.
With the RLE™ framework, confidence becomes more than a feeling. It becomes a strategy for leadership, for resilience, and for retention.
Learn more and connect:
Join our next Resilient Women Leaders cohort or explore the RLE™ framework at www.resilientwomenleaders.com.
Alex Webb and Skye Deane co-authored the International Bestseller “The Life Coach’s Tool Kit Vol 3”, available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle.
Meet the authors:
Alex Webb and Skye Deane are both Resilient Leaders Consultants. They have a shared passion for building muscle in resilience and leadership for women, wherever they are in their career stage.
Having experienced many of the barriers preventing women from reaching their full potential, such as lack of confidence, imposter syndrome and a narrow view of leadership, Alex and Skye have learnt, first hand, how impactful the Resilient Leaders Elements Framework is, to building confidence in both who you are and what you do - the emotional and cognitive side of leadership.
They bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise to develop Resilient Women Leaders.
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