Zainab Aderounmu 
You would think the biggest thing holding women back from leadership would be the “glass ceiling”. Turns out, it’s not.
A few weeks ago, I interviewed ten executives on the red carpet of a women’s event, and every single one, both women and men alike, mentioned the same number one challenge: self-doubt. That tiny inner voice that says ‘I’m not enough’.
A Harvard Business Review research shows that women are less likely to jump on a high-level, well-paying position unless they’re 100% qualified whereas men only need to be 60% qualified to take the chance. “We found that candidates were talented, and yet they self-selected out,” Associate Professor Kathrine Coffman says.
However, self-selection or self-editing isn’t restricted to women, although we may hug the “rules” more than men do. Everyone has experienced it at some point. Have you ever come across an opportunity and immediately focused on all the reasons why you’re not able to get it or how you’re not yet ready to achieve it, so you don’t bother applying? That’s self editing. It’s telling yourself no, before hearing it from the world.
I experienced this when I had the opportunity to be selected as the Apex Lagos State Youth Ambassador. I was confident enough to enter the ring of 5000 applicants and made it to the top 100, which was further screened to 50. When it was time to select the Apex leader for the team of 50, I self-edited.
“I’ve made it this far, that’s enough,” I said to myself. Thankfully, we had a mindset re-engineering session just before the selection process began and I decided to try out my new empowering beliefs. I signified interest and made it to the top three. That was still enough for me. “I’ve tried”, I thought to myself. I didn’t think much of it until I was announced the apex leader.
Self-editing often stems from the belief that you need one more training, one more class, one more task complete, to be qualified. But guess what, you get promoted to an area where you’re less qualified. Once you’re an expert at a job, you’ve likely outgrown it and it’s time to step up. After all, it’s called the next level. That’s why it’s important to catch yourself when self-editing. Evy Poumpouras puts it well, “The first no you hear shouldn’t come from you”.
Confidence, a deep belief in your ability to figure it out, helps you show up differently. I recently read a tweet about someone who barely had 500 followers online, but boldly pitched himself as someone who teaches people from across continents. If the followers were from different continents, he wouldn’t be wrong, but most of us would have focused on the number of followers rather than the quality. Meanwhile, I met a lady who I thought was fit for president of her organisation but she insisted she was okay as VP. Perspective makes the difference.
Try this the next time you catch yourself self-editing or self-selecting out of the race; try. You really have nothing to lose if you try. And don’t just try limply, leaving things to fate, try confidently. What’s the worst that could happen, you get a rejection, you learn new things. But when you don’t try, you lose everything. The opportunity to learn and the possibility of winning.
Zainab ADEROUNMU A. W. is a First Class graduate of English Language and the Overall Best Graduating Student from the Lagos State University, Lagos Nigeria. She’s a professional Master of Ceremonies, known as The Hijabi Compere , a public speaking coach and Communications Professional. She is currently a Youth advisor to the European Union where she doubles as the Spokesperson and Head of Communications & PR for the Youth Sounding Board.