According to a KPMG report,”less than half (43%) of women said they feel comfortable taking risks.” The biggest reason women don’t take risks–lack of confidence. However, 45% of these same women polled believed “risk-taking helped them gain a whole new set of skills and 33% said it helped them build more respect among their colleagues.”
As a serial entrepreneur, I believe my ability to take confident and calculated risks is vital to my career and financial success, so I was surprised, and dismayed, by these stats. So what can women do to exercise their courage muscles and embrace the risks that allow them to achieve and succeed?
KPMG recommended the following four steps to help female professionals feel more confident:
- Make a conscious effort to ask for what you want, and be clear in those wants
- Stay aware of the impression you make, and be strong in that impression
- Speak up and defend your position
- Take risks—no risks means no rewards
Read more about this report at Techrepublic.com
Read more about how the confidence gaps hurts women in the workplace by clicking here.