Ms. Boorstin wrote When Women Lead; the book studies the strategies of 60 female leaders.
Confident leadership that projects invincibility can inhibit leaders’ reception to feedback, according to Ms. Boorstin. Displays of vulnerability, on the other hand, build trust within teams, opening spaces for dialogue.
Ms. Boorstin referenced a study conducted by cognitive psychologist Therese Huston, PhD, which found confidence is best when turned “down” to gather information from others, then “up” to act on information received. A leader who admits they do not have all the answers is more receptive to learning, widening their perspective to make better-informed decisions.
“If your confidence is too high, you won’t be able to gather data to make decisions divorced from ego,” Ms. Boorstin wrote.
Ms. Boorstin also referenced a three-year study of 800 CEOs’ confidence levels, conducted by universities in Vienna and Singapore. The researchers found that leaders with “exaggerated” confidence are overly optimistic about their financial situations and react less to feedback.
This stark overconfidence is a gendered phenomenon, according to Ms. Boorstin. In a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, researchers found that male leaders described themselves as significantly more effective than female leaders did. However, female leaders were rated as significantly more effective by others. This reveals a male tendency toward overestimating one’s own abilities, Ms. Boorstin said.
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