The Confidence Code
The Science and Art of Self-Assurance---What Women Should Know
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
Following the success of Lean In and Why Women Should Rule the World, the authors of the bestselling Womenomics provide an informative and practical guide to understanding the importance of confidence—and learning how to achieve it—for women of all ages and at all stages of their career.
Working women today are better educated and more well qualified than ever before. Yet men still predominate in the corporate world. In The Confidence Code, Claire Shipman and Katty Kay argue that the key reason is confidence.
Combining cutting-edge research in genetics, gender, behavior, and cognition—with examples from their own lives and those of other successful women in politics, media, and business—Kay and Shipman go beyond admonishing women to "lean in."Instead, they offer the inspiration and practical advice women need to close the gap and achieve the careers they want and deserve.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Broadcast journalists Kay and Shipman (Womenomics) address the self-confidence gap between women and men, consulting a range of experts to determine what female confidence looks like and how it can be achieved. Their sources include WNBA players, successful entrepreneurs, and senior U.S. military, all of whom admit to facing crises in confidence. They visit a neuropsychologist studying rhesus monkeys to explore nature vs. nurture theories on anxiety and the brain's neurotransmitters that enhance or inhibit confidence. The authors discuss obstacles to self-assurance women face like "negative habitual thought," internalized pressure to conform to feminine stereotypes, and a "hormonal tendency to avoid risk." Studies cited suggest women are more critical of their own scientific skills and spatial reasoning, and speak up less in a group setting. Kay and Shipman provide a great blueprint for raising daughters by discouraging perfectionism, noting that perfectionism smothers achievement and is the enemy of confidence. For readers themselves, the authors include techniques for eliminating "negative automatic thoughts" with self-compassion and recommend "quick fixes" like meditation, correct posture, and healthy habits. All of this research, as well as the authors' own recounting of experiences with doubt in their professional lives, effectively builds into a comprehensive set of ingredients for the confident woman.
