Do you ever leave a team meeting feeling regret and mad at yourself because you didn’t speak up or share a great idea?  Are you intimidated to voice your opinion to those with more authority?  According to The Atlantic, women are less self-assured than men—and that to succeed, confidence matters as much as competence.     Kay and Shipman  (2014)  articulate this concern by stating “There is a particular crisis for women—a vast confidence gap that separates the sexes. Compared with men, women don’t consider themselves as ready for promotions, they predict they’ll do worse on tests, and they generally underestimate their abilities. This disparity stems from factors ranging from upbringing to biology”.

Despite the fact that women earn more college and graduate  degrees and make up  50% of the workforce  there is  still a large discrepancy in promotional speed and percentage of women in top corporate positions.  How then, can the “Confidence Gap” be closed?

Surprisingly, there is scientific evidence to support that  posture physiologically alters neuroendocrine and behavioral changes that lead to increased testosterone as well as lowers stress- inducing cortisol levels and increases feelings of power and tolerance for risk.   Enacting the  iconic, cartoonist pose of  Wonder Woman  with hands on  hips, and  head held high-  exuding strength and power…might actually deliver some.  According to Carney, D. R., Cuddy, A. J., & Yap, A. J. (2010),  “Posing in displays of power caused advantaged and adaptive psychological, physiological, and behavioral changes, and these findings suggest that embodiment extends beyond mere thinking and feeling, to physiology and subsequent behavioral choices. That a person can, by assuming two simple 1-min poses, embody power and instantly become more powerful has real-world, actionable implications”.

Women Leaders may be able to apply Carney, Caddy and Yap’s(2010) study to increase both confidence and assertiveness  by simply assuming the  “Wonder Woman” pose (privately of course)  for one to two minutes each day.  Amy Cuddy (2012) popularized this study in her Ted Talk Video “Your body language shapes who you are” which has now garnered more than 34 million views.  Cuddy, a professor and researcher at Harvard Business School, studies “non-verbal power poses and how your body position not only influences others but your own body chemistry as well”.

The study included 2 minutes of participants adopting either a “high power pose” (such as hands in the air for victory or the standard “Wonder Woman” pose), or a low power pose (such as chest bent in with arms folded, or chest bent forward in, ankles crossed and hand up by one’s neck). Laboratory results indicated that those that enacted the high power pose had approximately a 20% increase in testosterone and those that adopted the low power pose had a 10% decrease in testosterone.   Testosterone is the hormone that is associated with confidence, self esteem and poise. Succinctly, participants that adopted the high power pose had a 25% decrease in cortisol levels and those who adopted the low power poses had a 15% increase in cortisol levels.  Cortisol is a hormone associated with the stress response. Higher levels of Cortisol indicate the participant is more stressed. Cuddy (2012) ascertains from the study that “our bodies can change our minds, our minds can change our behaviors and our behaviors can change our outcomes”.   What if this behavior is not natural for you? Cuddy passionately states  that one should not only “fake it till you make it” but “fake it until you become it”.

Takeaway Tips:

• Body language not only communicates to others about us, it communicates to us about ourselves.
• Body posture can effect hormone fluctuations that regulate confidence and anxiety.
• High Power Poses (done privately for 2 minutes a day) can alter our brain’s perceptions of confidence and competence.
• Utilizing the Power Pose before a high stress, highly social interaction can help you be the best “you” you can be.