Women are still underrepresented in leadership positions and on boards and progress is going far too slowly.

One of the myths is that women lack confidence. The truth is that women do not lack confidence, but they are much more careful not to oversell themselves. In a recent study: ‘Cracking the code’ by KPMG, YSC & the 30% Club research shows that women are brutally self-honest about their skills and abilities when putting themselves forward for unfamiliar challenges.

It is an old truth that a man applies for a position when he has some of the requirements; a woman only when she has all the required skills.

Women’s almost forensic approach to assessing personal risk and return is a more accurate explanation than lack of confidence in women’s career choices.

Interestingly enough they also found that women are looking to others for information cues when making a decision. That is unfortunately often confused with the misunderstanding that women are looking to others for social cues to feel accepted.

It is about time we stop talking about women’s lack of confidence and start tapping into the real issues. Putting yourself forward is a skill that can be learned. If women think they first have to get more confident and before they can put themselves forward, it is a long journey.

If women, however, get the tools and techniques to comfortably and on their terms learn to talk about their accomplishments they quickly speed up the process.