Self-Confidence and IWD

I don’t normally talk too much about International Women’s Day (IWD). I prefer every day to be IWD where organisations are places where women are supported, championed, and empowered, and as part of my consulting work I partner with organisations to develop strategies and workplace enablers related to this.

Nonetheless, I think there is value in keeping IWD on the calendar as there is clearly still so much work to do, evidenced in the 2025 Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s employer gender pay gaps data reporting that was released this week (just as one reference point).

But my brain has been thinking overtime recently, and I felt compelled to share a few thoughts…

What I wanted to highlight today as we approach IWD tomorrow is one thing that I think we can all do to help women everyday - and that is to support women in managing their self-confidence to enable them to be their best selves. I don’t just mean supporting women we work with - our loved ones at home, and also with our friends.

This is important as self-confidence is one of the things we can control and can really be a superpower. I see great opportunity for women especially to harness this more convincingly.

I no longer want self-confidence to be the prohibitor for women in applying for that job, or promotion, or asking for that pay rise - or even the every day things that hold them back such as speaking up in meetings, putting forward their great ideas, or defending themselves in discussions.

So how can we do this? Just a few examples below to get you started...

• When they are talking themselves down or being hard on themselves, constructively challenge their negative self-talk and remind them of their strengths and their achievements, and how amazing they are. 

• Encourage them to apply for the job even though they may not meet all the criteria - realistically most people never do and they apply anyway. 

• Help them role play a conversation about asking for a pay rise. 

There are enough systems in the world holding us back, let’s not let ourselves be another thing holding us back too.

I am fortunate in my life to have many cheerleaders giving me pep talks along the way which has helped my self-confidence when I’ve needed it and I am eternally grateful. I have no doubt you can be a vital cheerleader for someone too and make a difference for them.