If a woman demonstrates this tendency in a management role, she also risks diminishing the accomplishments of the team she leads. Over the course of their careers, both the authors have observed how men tend to distrust women who are self-deprecating about their achievements, considering them inauthentic. This is a problem that the author has observed in the numerous workshops she’s conducted with diverse groups of professional women, and it’s evident in nearly every industry at every level in the workplace hierarchy.Īlthough seen as polite, being overly modest is more likely to harm a woman’s career than advance it. Their weakness didn’t lie in the quality of the work – it lay in their discomfort with drawing attention to their successes and taking credit for their accomplishments.įor instance, they would underplay their own role in a team’s success, preferring to spread credit around than to acknowledge their hard work in front of senior colleagues.

It was even noted that they often worked harder than their male counterparts. When the author discussed the topic with women with senior positions in accounting, consulting and law, they all agreed that younger female employees in their firm were conscientious, consistent and delivered work of a very high standard. Reluctance to take credit for personal achievements is a common problem among professional women. The verdict was unanimous – the younger women all struggled with the word “I.” Her aim was to find out what these women saw in the behavior of their younger colleagues that could be holding them back.

Several years ago, one of the authors, Sally Helgesen, decided to interview successful professional women.

How women rise habits