confidence and competence, their relationship and impact on workplace performance

8/2/2019 Confidence and Competence, Their Relationship and Impact on Workplace Performance

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Confidence and Competence:Their Relationship and Impact

on Workplace Performance

Julie Savage-Milner, B.A., Grad.Dip.Ed.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements forthe degree of Master of Arts (Psycho-Social Studies) in the

Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts, University of

Melbourne


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Abstract

The research question is: What is the perceived relationship between

confidence and competence and its impact on workplace performance in the

cases studied? In particular, I am looking for any association between levels

of confidence and levels of competence and the differences, if any, betweenpeoples self-perceptions of their levels of confidence and competence as well

as the perceptions of others. In other words, how they project themselves to

others.

A number of social scientists have written about self-confidence and aboutcompetence. Most of the work I have found relating the two dimensions has

focussed on studies of child and adolescent developmental psychology

through research on students in schools and universities. In work with

adults, researchers have focussed either on one dimension (confidence) or

the other (competence). I have seen little quantitative or qualitative

research linking the two in adult experience and I have not found any

research that considers the impact on workplace performance. The majority

of articles that consider the topic in relation to adult experience are written

by people whose main interest is in human resource management and are

more conjectural than research based. The present research is based on

interviews with 14 people either employed or self-employed in the public

and private sectors.


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Acknowledgements

I have learned that the success of any project depends on the support,

encouragement and mentoring that is provided by others throughout the

process. I am grateful to all those who took such an interest in this thesis

but would like to acknowledge those who played a special role:

Clare and Jennifer my daughters who gave me exceptional love andsupport and demonstrated an absolute belief in my confidence and

competence when I consistently doubted it. And the late Ian Savage my

first husband of 23 years whose untimely death robbed me of my

confidence and competence when I thought I had it all.

Robert Milner my second husband who has listened to my confidence-competence debate for three years and who provided a learning environment

in which I could do battle with my confidence and competence and learn so

much more about myself.

Dr Graham Little and Dr John Cash who provided and maintained the

intellectual and academic challenge and generously shared their ownacademic and professional knowledge and expertise.

Dr Helen Kimberley and Robb Mason whose mentoring, role modeling and

practical assistance ensured that I completed this thesis this century.

Joanne Abbey, Dianne Berlin, Elinor Crossing, Marnie Gandrabur, WinifredHirst, Professor Richard Johnson and Barbara Stone who provided

unconditional collegiality, friendship and encouragement.

Dr Tudor Bostock and Ken Heyward who shared my personal, professional


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Dedication

I dedicate this thesis to the late Robert Hockley who bequeathed me his

dream and to Clare and Jennifer who never doubted that I could fulfill it.


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Table of Contents

Abstract .............................................................................................................. iAcknowledgements ........................................................................................... iiDedication ........................................................................................................iiiChapter One: Introduction ............................................................................... 1

The question .................................................................................................. 1The context .................................................................................................... 1

Personal context......................................................................................... 1Professional context................................................................................... 2Significance of the issue ............................................................................ 3

The research background.............................................................................. 3What researchers say about confidence.................................................... 4What researchers say about competence.................................................. 5

Adequacies and inadequacies of these approaches and findings in

relation to my question.............................................................................. 7Method ........................................................................................................... 8

Chapter Two: Method ...................................................................................... 9Chapter Three: What do people I interviewed say about my question? .... 13

Competence.................................................................................................. 13How is competence defined?.................................................................... 13What would it mean to be competent but lacking confidence?.............. 14Mistaken or unsuitable competence ....................................................... 15

Confidence 16


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Affect ........................................................................................................ 25Change of circumstance........................................................................... 26Gender...................................................................................................... 27Isolation.................................................................................................... 28Management style ................................................................................... 29Parental influence ................................................................................... 30Past experience ........................................................................................ 31Social factors............................................................................................ 32Support..................................................................................................... 33Critical life events.................................................................................... 34

Chapter Four: What does this mean? ........................................................... 35

Competence.................................................................................................. 36Inner competence..................................................................................... 36Outer competence .................................................................................... 36Impostor syndrome and perceived fraudulence...................................... 37Optimism, pessimism and depression .................................................... 40

Confidence ................................................................................................... 42Coping and defending.............................................................................. 43Possible selves and shame....................................................................... 46Ego defenses/defense mechanisms.......................................................... 48Closing the gap ........................................................................................ 49

Chapter Five: Conclusion ............................................................................... 52Bibliography.................................................................................................... 58

Primary Sources: Transcripts ..................................................................... 58


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Chapter One: Introduction

The question

For personal and professional reasons I became curious about the

relationship between confidence and competence. I wanted to know howpeople perceive confidence. What factors contribute to changes in levels of

self-confidence, what enhances it, what diminishes it? Further to those

questions, what impact if any do differing levels of self-confidence have

on peoples competence? I also wanted to know how people perceive

competence? What factors contribute to changes in peoples perceptions oftheir competence, what enhances peoples perceived and/or actual

competence and what diminishes it?

Responding to all these questions is beyond the scope of a minor thesis.

Therefore I needed to apply boundaries to the research task and focus on aparticular aspect of the broader question about the relationship between

confidence and competence. Accordingly, the research question became:

What is the perceived relationship between confidence and competence and

its impact on workplace performance in the cases studied?

The context

Personal context


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competence be affected by events beyond my control? If confidence and

competence can be lost, how are they gained? Are they discrete entities or

are they linked? How have traumatic or negative experiences impacted on

others confidence and competence? Finding some answers to these

questions became important. If I could find a link between confidence and

competence then what I had deemed to be illogical or irrational may be an

unfortunate but predictable outcome and, by researching the topic, I hoped I

would find some answers that could help me to recover what I felt I had lost.

Professional context

In early 1997, when my confidence and competence were perhaps at their

lowest, I received a telephone call from Robert Hockley, an individual, group

and organisational consultant in Sydney. At the time I knew Hockley only

by reputation. He asked to meet me in Melbourne although he knew only

three things about me: that we shared similar professional interests, that I

was keenly interested in the psychoanalytic approach to individual, group

and organisational behaviour, and that I could write.

Hockley had been thinking about the relationship between confidence and

competence in relation to chief executive officers (CEOs) and senior

managers. He had been collecting articles and books that were helping him

to make sense of the connection. He had begun to develop a theory and was

excited about the significance it might have for work practices. His dream

th t h hi k l t d ti l b t th l ti hi


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Hockley provided me not only with a meaningful study but a way of making

sense of my own reality.

If, as a result of my research, I found that others were affected similarly

then the potential implications for both their personal lives and their

workplace performance could be serious. This would be especially so if their

employers were indifferent to their needs-at-the-time, not through lack of

care for their staff, but through ignorance that their staff might find

themselves in what seemed to be a permanent situation, but one which

could be interim if they were given appropriate support. The human and

economic costs or savings to organisations depending on the management

of such situations could be significant, either way.

Significance of the issue

For senior managers of organisations this study explores a different way of

thinking about changes in individual performance. It also explores how

management styles may enhance or exacerbate the levels of confidence and

competence of staff. For social scientists and health professionals it

explores a range of factors that impact on individuals perceptions of their

confidence and competence and the way in which physical and mental

health can be affected.

The research background


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developmental psychology through research on students in schools and

universities.

With regard to adults, researchers seem to have focussed on one dimension

(confidence) or the other (competence). There seems to be little research

linking the two and very little about the impact on workplace performance.

In light of this it is interesting that the majority of articles considering the

topic in relation to adult experience have been written by people whose

main interest is in human resource management and these are more

conjectural than research based.

What researchers say about confidence

Levels of confidence (or self-efficacy) are related to emotional factors in early

childhood and are carried into maturity. In the middle years, performance

at school and the attitudes of teachers affect peoples confidence in their

ability while peer group feedback is a key factor in the development of social

confidence (Harter, 1990). As Phillips & Zimmerman (1990) found

Children who seriously underestimated their abilities were

characterized by unrealistically low expectations for success,

believed that significant adultsheld unfavourable

impressions of their abilities, were reluctant to approach andsustain efforts on difficult achievement tasks, and had greater

feelings of anxiety about evaluation, in comparison to children

with more positive self-perceptions. (p. 46)


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from me or I cant even get to first base. This undoubtedly

will produce the giving-up response and make it harder to dialthe next prospectand eventually quit altogether. The

optimistic agent, on the other hand, will talk to himself in more

constructive ways: He was too busy right now, or They

already have insurance or I called during supperThe

next call wont be any harder to make, and within a few

minutes the agent will have gotten through to the one person in

ten, on average, who makes an appointmentIn this way hell

live up to his selling potential1. (Seligman, 1990: 98-99)

What researchers say about competence

Markus et al (1990) have written about the role of self-systems incompetence and conclude that competence is an important dimension of self-

esteem. Primarily, they argue that feelings of self-efficacy and competence

are joint factors protecting the self from effects of stress and that felt

competence is an essential component of actual competence which, in turn,

is linked to action and effective performance. Although good performance islikely to impact positively on confidence, good performance with low self-

esteem does not always result in feelings of competence. Therefore, people

must have both some ability and a self-schema2 for that ability in order to

feel competent. Sometimes the abilities and skills present first and the self-

schema follows. For others, the self-schema presents first and the abilities

develop later. Markus et al stress the importance for people to have clear

perceptions about their possible selves and to the extent to which these

possible selves are well elaborated and effectively summarised such people


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Bandura (1977) shares a similar view and claims that peoples need to feel

competent is related to a basic need to know that one exists: who one is and

how one is different from another. Feeling or being competent not only

validates ones self-defining generalisations but provides assurance to

others. Subsequently, a crisis in identity will occur when ones perceptions

of self-specific competencies are challenged, threatened or not allowed

expression. In such cases people will experience an unstable and diffuse

identity as well as a sense of general incompetence.

Different patterns of socialisation for boys and girls raise interesting gender

issues. Boys are socialised to attribute success to ability and failure to lack

of effort whereas girls are socialised to attribute success to effort and failure

to lack of ability. Such socialised negative self-perceptions for girls means

that they are more likely than boys to underestimate their true ability and

suffer deficiencies in motivation and coping (Bandura, 1977; Phillips &

Zimmerman, 1990).

Socialisation also impacts on the extent to which individuals are able to

perceive themselves as being competent as opposed to feeling fraudulent or

as if they are impostors (Kolligian, 1990; Kets de Vries, 1993; Clance et al,

1995). Females are more susceptible to this phenomenon because of the

type of family and female gender-role socialisation that they experience but

it is reported also by many high-achieving individuals who feel ashamed for

failing to live up to their parents [and their own] standards of perfection


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The Peter Principle every employee rises to his level of incompetence

offers another consideration of competence, namely that peoples confidence

in their ability to carry out a given task exceeds their capacity to do so

(Peter & Hull, 1969). In organisations which are unable to discern the

difference between confidence and competence, such people are often

promoted beyond their level of competence and not only the individual but

also their work group and the customer/client suffer as a consequence and

thus, ultimately, the organisation. Peter & Hull (1969) declare that:

For each individual, foryou, forme, the final promotion is from

a level of competence to a level of incompetenceIn time, every

post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to

carry out their dutiesWork is accomplished by thoseemployees who have not yet reached their level of

incompetence. (p. 24)

Adequacies and inadequacies of these approaches and findings in

relation to my question

The literature I have read is rich in information about confidence and/or

competence but I have yet to find any literature that specifically addresses

the impact on workplace performance either positively or negatively

when these two dimensions together change work performance.

Furthermore, I am interested in what happens to employees as a result of

factors that may be external to the workplace. Finally, I am interested in a

psychoanalytic interpretation of coping strategies and the defense


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Method

I propose to use a case study approach to explore my research question by

interviewing 14 participants from a range of work backgrounds about their

perceptions of confidence and competence and other related questions.

Chapter Two will document the research method.

Chapter Three will deal with how interviewees responded.

Chapter Four will comprise my interpretation of the case studies in

conjunction with what I have learned through the available literature. Iwill focus on what does this mean? How can this be understood?

Chapter 5 will present my conclusion.


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Chapter Two: Method

I began to think about the relationship between confidence and competence

in relation to CEOs but this gave rise to a number of considerations. Would

I select a cross-section of private and public sector organisations in order not

to influence the choice of CEO per se but rather whoever happened to be inthat role? Would I simply write to the CEO of the organisation and trust

that s/he would grant an interview? Furthermore, why would they make

the time? I began to think that CEOs could be too narrow a sample for the

following reasons: their specific role in their organisations presupposes a

certain degree of perceived competence and confidence; there was a risk that

such perceived competence and confidence was more likely to make their

experiences of related issues more remote than those experienced by a more

general sample of people in the paid workforce; their perceptions of their

position in their organisation could influence the way in which they

responded to the questions, that is, they had more to protect.

Although I was aware of the traditional sampling attributes more closely

associated with quantitative research, e.g. balance of gender, age, socio-

economic background, these were not my priority. I was more interested in

seeking diversity. I asked colleagues to identify people with a range of

workplace experiences in diverse occupations that would provide the

greatest opportunity for learning. I ended up with some 50 names; some I

knew personally others were friends associates or contacts of people I


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works well but often an unusual case helps illustrate matters

we overlook in typical cases. (Stake, 1995:4)

The 14 participants who form this case study were selected on three general

criteria: recommendation, diversity, accessibility. There were nine females

and five males with ages ranging from 22 to 63 (although most participants

were in the 45 55 age group); ten lived and worked in Melbourne, four inAdelaide.

The criterion for selection was based on my knowledge of specific attributes

that were unique to certain participants or were shared by several but not

all participants. These included: the uniqueness of their work relative toother participants; their demonstrated success (or otherwise) in the

workplace; educational diversity; public versus private sector workplace

experience; diversity in organisational hierarchy; experience of redundancy;

history of work stability/instability; and different critical life events. The

main common attribute was that they were or had been in paid

employment. Profiles of the participants are included in Appendix I.

After establishing the sample I wrote to each participant explaining my

research in broad terms. I explained that I expected the interview to take

no more than 30 minutes and that, although I would be taping the

interview, I was guaranteeing their confidentiality (Appendix II). Within

ten days of sending the letter I contacted participants to set up an interview

time


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Also I was acutely aware of my personal interest in the research question.

Thus I was seeking understanding of others experience in light of my own

and vice versa. Finnish philosopher Georg Henrik von Wright (1971) wrote

that:

understanding also has a psychological ring which

explanation has notunderstanding as a method

characteristic of the humanities is a form ofempathy or re-

creation in the mind of the scholar of the mental atmosphere,

the thoughts and feelings and motivations, of the objects of his

studyUnderstanding is also connected tointentionality in a

way that explanation is notThis intentionalisticdimension

of understanding has come to play a prominent role in more

recent methodological discussion. (quoted in Stake, 1995:37)

I developed 11 open-ended questions (Appendix III) which were in two parts.

The first question asked participants to define confidence and competence

and the remaining four questions asked them to reflect on associated issues

in their work lives. In the second part, the orientation changed fromimpersonal to personal accounts and/or experiences. Four questions in this

part of the interview were related to the interviewees workplaces or work

experiences. The final question was open to interpretation and had the

potential to move the interview away from workplace and/or work

experiences to whatever the participant chose to talk about. This particularquestion was Tell me about any experiences of loss; how you have dealt

with any loss With all questions I was aware that:

I l i li d f ll b d h b i


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what I had found to be especially valuable about their interview, that is,

what special light they shed on the issues or anything they had raised which

had not been discussed or raised by any other participant. None of the

participants contacted me to question either the content of the transcript or

the summary points I had made.

I read each transcript twice, the second time highlighting comments that

related to the research question or raised specific questions that were

unique to that interview. I then worked through each transcript recording

my understanding of what each participant had intended by what they had

said.

I developed a coding system for text analysis to group the information

within each transcript without losing associated connections. I sorted the

transcripts into two piles according to participants gender. Finally, I

worked through each coded transcript and developed tables for each pattern

that seemed to emerge, deviations from the pattern, and unique

contributions to my understanding of the pattern.

The scope of this work does not allow for a comprehensive discussion of

every theme or pattern that emerged from the material collected. Therefore

in the next chapter I present only the main patterns or themes; first, how

the participants defined competence and pertinent themes that arose;

second, how they defined confidence and the issues and pertinent themes

arising; and third what main factors the participants felt impacted on their


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Chapter Three: What do people I interviewed sayabout my question?

This chapter deals with what the participants had to say about confidence

and competence and any relevance to their own and others workplace

performance3. It is my analysis of the interviews: the way I have taken

them apart

to see the parts separately and how they relate to each

otherWhere thoughts come from, whence meaning, remains a

mystery. The page does not write itself, but by finding, for

analysis, the right ambience, the right moment, by reading andrereading the accounts, by deep thinking, then understanding

creeps forward(Stake, 1995: 72-73)

Competence

How is competence defined?

The majority of participants defined competence as being an internal

attribute, using such words as:

knowing that whatever you are about to do that you are able

to do that (Erica: 1)being aware of the ability (Max: 1)

a proven ability (Anthea: 1)a demonstrated capacity

(Deborah: 1)actually being able to do what they say they can

do (Betty: 1)


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competence is actually somebody elses opinion of how you

meet their criteria[it is] very much based around the outerperson [and is] not necessarily an inward qualityits an

outward imposed set of criteria that you either meet or dont

meet. (Candice: 1-2)

its really the observation of others in terms of their

behaviour. (Charles: 1)

Competence has an internal and external component to it. Inner

competence is ones perception of ones capacity or ability to undertake a

given task. Outer competence is how ones ability and/or capacity is

assessed against objective criteria.

What would it mean to be competent but lacking confidence?

Erica talked about two members of her staff whose competence was not in

doubt but who lacked confidence and, consequently, needed different support

from her:

Ive got an assistant whos very competent in her role, shes

very clear about what she has to dobut what she does is lack

confidenceshe has to keep coming back to meshe needs my

approval almost to know shes done it right. (Erica: 2)

Ive had another male who worked for me who was verycompetent but lacked confidence so hed constantly have to

come and get directions sethe was looking for leadership and

clarity. (Erica: 2-3)


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Mistaken or unsuitable competence

A former general manager observed that a member of her staff had been

very competentbut shes not necessarily competent at the things she

thinks shes competent at. (Deborah: 2) This concept was endorsed by a

state manager who said that:

Sometimes it has to do with the style of the manager and what

youre actually expecting them to deliver. You may have

somebody, for instance, who is very good technicallybut not

so competent in the area of managementtherefore they need

some coachingand that can be quite difficult. (Anthea: 1-2)

An RAAF squadron leader described the problems associated with

competency-based assessment in an organisation that consistently moves

staff across different work areas:

a person can be zooming along doing extremely well with one

job and then get into a job they just dont have the skill sets for

and, although they try, it can be very, very difficult because

your assessments can then vary quite markedly

one of the problems is that you know that the person is just

not suited to this job but youre stuck with them and theyre

stuck with the job. So one of the hassles with that is trying to

work out whether even though they may be trying their bestbut not reaching the mark theyre still competent

its very, very difficult when you feel youre negative in a skill

seteven if you try your best, your best never appears to be

d h h tll h i lik l d th ll


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encourage staff to identify the areas in which they are competent (that is,

build on their strengths) and to develop new skills that are appropriate to

their existing role (that is, eradicate their weaknesses).

Confidence

How is confidence defined?

Participants had difficulty defining confidence: Ive got no ideaI guess its

feeling comfortable with what youre doing and feeling motivated and feeling

sure, feeling positive about how you do things (Anthea: 1) and you are

personally trusted and treated well and that if you make a decision, yourmanagement will back you up (Marjorie: 1)

Deborah and Candice split the concept of confidence but in different ways;

Deborah worked from the inside out, whereas Candice worked from the

outside in.

self-confidence is to do with believing that you can do things

as well as you can do them. General confidence is having an

attitude to life that says you can overcome difficulties and

challenges. (Deborah: 1)

Confidence [is]two things. One is the outward appearance orthe outward persona that you reflectso if youre confident

then you reflect a very positive and directioned persona on the

outside. If youre totally confident in yourself, then you also

have that as an inner reflection. (Candice: 1)


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something offself-esteem, how a person naturally feels about

themselves. (Betty: 1)

confidence happens when Im in a positive frame of

mindits almost an assumption that Ill do it well (Heidi: 1)

...when my confidence is low, I feel as if I have absolutely no

competence. I dont see any of the positiveswhen Im really

confident Ive got heaps of skills and when I dont have anyconfidence its like I cant think of any skills that I do have at

all. (Heidi: 10)

confidence is when youre feeling able, self-assured, you have

motivation, you know what youre doing, you know you have

the support of the people youre working with, you know your

ideas are accepted, its a freedom of being able to workefficiently all of those things. And a feeling of well being and

knowledge in your heart that what youredoing is good work,you have the ability to make a decision and stand by that

decision knowing it to be the best. (Jennifer: 1)

confidence is a knowledge of your own abilityyou have been

able to judge your own level of ability and be comfortable withthat level of ability and achieve that level of ability. (Vanessa:

1)

confidence? A state of mind, usually measured by the

behaviour of the individual. (Charles: 1)

Confidenceis a capacity to undertake something, knowingthat you have the ability to do it. (Max: 1)

Tims definition carried a different meaning: true confidence is the ability


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What influences confidence?

A range of internal and external factors influence confidence: comparisons

with others, self-doubt, mood swings, vulnerability to external attack, lack

of self-love and self-respect, and the impact of critical life events.

Im always amazed at how fragile human beings are, how

their self-esteem can be shattered in a day, in a moment, bysomeone who they see as maybe being more competent, telling

them theyre an idiot. (Betty: 1-2)

I know my days. Sometimes I [know] Im going to have a

great day and it is. More often, now, Im not so confident, I

[feel] panic. (Heidi: 8)

I can wake up in a morning and know when I am confident, I

am competentif Im feeling flat, or dejected or whatever, then

Im not confident and Im not able to achieve anything. And my

confidence tends to go with my moodI almost divide my life

into periods of being confident and not being confidentAnd

that can be a week or it can be six months (Vanessa: 8)

Well confidence is one of whose intangible things that are

almost impossible to deliberately acquire. It arrives, and

sometimes it goes. Its a bit like a golf swing. One day its

there and the next its not (Max: 1)

Again Tims view was different:

If you havent got full love of yourself and respect for yourself

then the confidence whatever confidence you might have

will be easily washed away at the sign of a major problem


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Confidence also has an inner and outer dimension which suggests that there

is a gap between how participants see themselves (and others) as opposed to

how they perceive, and are perceived by, others?

The gap between inner and outer confidence?

Deborah, Candice and Albert describe the gap between how they feel abouttheir confidence and how others perceive them:

I oscillate enormously in terms of confidencemost people see

me as being an extremely self-confident person but I actually

dont think that I amThere are times when I look around at

peopleand I think God, Im much more competent than you

and I believe it, and it helps my confidence. There are other

time when I have grave self-doubts and I think Im just full of

bullshit, Ive led my life as a con-artist, Im not really any good

at all, so theres no sort of pattern to that except obviously if I

do something well it makes me feel much more confident.

(Deborah: 8)

they [my family] think that Im a pretty confident person. I

think its just how you think of yourself. You know sometimes

when you have doubts (Albert: 2)

But I still dont think that Im as good as people told me I am,

and I dont think Ill get over that. What people think of me is

different to what my own opinion of me is. Im happy for themto think that but, sometimes I think, how did I manage to fool

them? (Candice: 12)

These reflections are particularly interesting because of the professional


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between how others present themselves to participants and how

participants actually perceive them.

Between seeming and being

Deborah describes three people from her previous organisation who

demonstrate the relationship between how others seem to be and how theyactually are.

Sandra Chief Executive Officer

Whats amazing about her is that she managed to con her way

into jobs successfully until she was 52 or 53 when she hit awallwhat I realised was that she had never been in a job for

more than two years in her lifeand the referees shed used for

the jobwere people she had not reported to.

She was totally incompetent in her capacity to plan for the

long-term, to look at the needs of the organisation. She was

driven by a need for self-aggrandisement, for furthering herown ambitions and that was at any cost really, including the

costs paid by the organisation but she was extremely confident

and a lot of people were taken in by her.

And when she was trying to get outwhich she was frequently

trying to do even within six monthsbecause she had this

overwhelming ambition to move on to something even

biggershe would tell me what jobs she was applying for and

she would tell me who her referees were and they were again

no-one she was reporting to, not even from the Board. They

l h h d i d th h i l


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Alice a Principal Officer

[She] exudes self-confidence and Ive never actually seen much

evidence that shes actually lacking in confidencebut she was

much less competent than she believed she was[and] shes

not necessarily competent at the things she thinks shes

competent at.

When she reported to meI found that she actually talked a lotof bullshit and that often when I tried to unpick what she was

sayingit didnt actually stand up to scrutiny

Shes been an incredibly successful personshe gets runs on

the boardso shes a fascinating mixture of competence even

though part of it is sometimes a little bit of a con-job. (Deborah:

2)

Brenda a Senior Manager

One staff member who reported to mealways presented very

confidently but actually was deeply lacking in self-

confidenceI did try to help [with a significant organisationaltask] but it was very difficult because she thought I was

criticising her.

I decided I would bring someone in to help her[and she] never

forgave me for doing thatshe put up barriers and then

thought I was unhelpful and she actually got a secondment out

of the organisation. Thats one example of someone who ismore confident that she deserves to be, or should be,

considering her actual competence. (Deborah: 5-6)

Th l d t t diff b t th l t


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outer confidence is so linked to (her own and others) perceptions of

competence/incompetence, that both the inner and the outer confidence are

susceptible to any implied or real criticism of the outer competence.

Consequently, both the inner confidence and competence are then

diminished. I suggest that this last scenario is the one most prevalent in

the workplace.

Confidence and competence: a difficult relationship

If one has outer confidence how can competence be measured except through

performance? Betty discussed two aspects of this dilemma within her

organisation which had been through a large recruiting process both

demonstrating the relationship between inner and outer confidence and

competence:

people that came across as being confident of their ability to

perform particular tasks and their CVs looked great they

interviewed extremely well but as far as competence inactually putting that task into practice, they just didnt have

iteven with coaching there was still not that ability. So I

think theres a vast difference between confidence and

competence. (Betty: 1)

She contrasted this with overconfidence which has the potential to cloudcompetence:

there are instances that we still have on staff where people

fid t b t th t l t t if


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the expression of confidence breeds on itselfbarristers to a

large extent live on confidence. If you dont have confidence,youre not going to be particularly successful as a barrister.

(Max: 1)

Courtroom work exemplifies the illusion of confidence and its relationship to

competence and how the measure of outer competence feeds back into outer

confidence.

You can be over-prepared which is a sign of lack of confidence.

If you write down verbatim everything you think youre going

to say, I think you perform less well than if you go in confident

of your ability to be able to put the argument viva voce and just

respond to whichever line of questioning the judge might take.(Max: 8)

But, you can lose it overnight. I think what sometimes happens at the Bar

is the barristers get old and tired, gun-shy, lose the taste for fighting. (Max:

1) This quote is representative of much of the language used throughout the

interview with Max. He likened the law to warfare and theatre and said

directing or stage managing is what I tend to call itits really an exercise

in stage management with you as the director (Max: 3). This

acknowledgement of workplace performance being like theatre was the

most candid representation of the relationship between outer confidence and

outer competence, that is, people tend to play out a perceived role in the

workplace rather than allow others to see their actual confidence and

competence.


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Im probably overly confident at Uni. Even though I dont

think Im going to do well in my exams I have the belief that Iwill do, if I studybut then I dont study so I dont prove my

competence, or my confidence (Vanessa: 1)

These examples suggest the complexity of the nature of the relationship

between confidence and competence, whether it be as it is perceived by

others or by ones self, and how one feeds the other. Betty articulated this

best when she said:

I guess Id like to think that the [gap] between my own

confidence and my competence is lessening, that Im as

competent as I am confident, but[the] gapmakes you work

a little harder, or strive for other things, because the more youdo, the more competent you become, [and] the more confident

you are. And I think its probably an ever-escalating thing.

(Betty: 7)

The gaps discussed by participants both overtly and covertly were

principally the gaps between confidence as it is inwardly felt and how it is

outwardly expressed and competence as it is inwardly known to be and how

it is outwardly demonstrated. And if there are gaps then what increases or

decreases the size of the gaps and what is the subsequent impact on inner

and outer confidence and competence?

What influences the gap?

Participants identified factors that changed their levels of confidence and/or


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and the impact of critical life events. Participants also discussed different

way of coping with these influences.

Clearly it is beyond the scope of this work to explore the impact of each of

these influences in any depth although the range of responses deserves

greater consideration and further study. I will present the more extreme

examples to demonstrate the points. In doing so I am cautioning the reader

of my tendency as a qualitative case study researcher to become, in effect,

an artist constructing my own landscape of understanding. As Stake quotes

Ren Magritte,

Which is how we see the world: we see it as being outside

ourselves even though it is only a mental representation of it

that we experience inside ourselves. (Stake, 1995: 98)

Affect

Negative feelings, such as fear, panic and anxiety were named by a numberof participants. Fear was generalised or associated with the dichotomy of

fear of failure/fear of success. Anxiety also tended to be generalised either

as a permanent reactive state or as being specific to a given situation.

I often have this fear that comes up. Its fear about a lot of

things but its a real anxiety and part of it goes to money orlack of it and worrying about it, so it almost becomes a self-

fulfilling prophecy, that Im almost sabotaging my situation.

(Heidi: 5)


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It is interesting that the participants use of language heightened the impact

of the points they were making, e.g. sabotaging, overpowering, demoralising

and debilitating.

Change of circumstance

Most participants identified change as having a detrimental effect onconfidence and/or competence. The degree to which their lives were changed

as a result of the new circumstance was reflected in the degree to which

they responded or reacted to it. Marjorie talked about a situation which

confronts many women in the paid workforce:

The only time I was between jobs was when I left work to have

children and then coming back to the workplace. I felt an

extreme lack of confidence because Id been out of the

workplace for four years and I no longer felt like a working

person. I felt like a Mum and it took me a long time, a few

months anyway, to get used to the fact that I could actually do

this stuff again. (Marjorie: 5)

For Tim, the breakdown of his second marriage brought about substantial

change:

the only way I was ready to go through this [was to] be

plunged into the dark night of the soulAnd what plunged meinto the dark night of the soul was the loss of self-love and self-

respect of me. That was a tragedy (Tim: 6)

B V i l h h f i i h


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see you every day, they dont expect you to be any different.

(Vanessa: 10)

Gender

Most males and most females expressed the view that, generally, confidence

comes more easily to men in relation to feelings of competence, and often

precedes competence, whereas:

women tend to be lacking in self-confidence and so they want

to be really able to be sure and doubly sure and triply sure that

they can do something and then they might start feeling

confident about it. (Deborah: 7)

Some participants felt that this was changing and that a new pattern was

emerging:

womenTheyve always been competent but I think theyre

much more confident now and I think that men are starting to

lose their confidence with respect to women (Albert: 3)

Tim provided a stronger view about the difference between males and

females:

there are areas where men are as strong and, the way their

emotions are, actually can produce better results than a womanbutthe man needs to get more in touch with his feminine side

and that way youll get a much stronger relationship between

men and women. I mean, I dont think women would be going

out there making wars Theyd find a different way to do it


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She also talked about the greater ease with which males of her generation

are able to express their emotions:

we were talking about boys crying. And whether they cry,

and what their fathers thought of them crying. And all of them

cry, and none of them had a problem with saying that they

cryOne guy whos gay though, he was saying that his father

has a real problem with it, and always has since he was little,

because he associates him crying with being gay. (Vanessa: 4)

In support of the minority view that gender per se is not the issue, Anthea

said:

there arent as many differences between men and women

that some people would like to assume there are and I think its

to do with peopleYou can always see that there are examples

of people, regardless of their gender, who operate in a way that

you might attribute to the other gender; so I dont know that

its gender-based although a lot would probably tell you that it

is. (Anthea: 2)

Isolation

Isolation carried different meanings for participants. Those who held the

most senior positions in their organisations talked about isolation as part of

their role. As Betty said:

I find it a very lonely place and I guess its something I have

to trade for doing the job and its not always what I would

prefer to do. At times Ive thought, stuff it. (Betty: 2)


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because Im working from homeits not a feeling of

loneliness but its a feeling of doing it all on my own. And sowhat Ive actually done is Ive put my doll on a chair in my

officeI dont even talk to herAnd even that lifts how I feel

and it moves, I think, in the direction toward my confidence.

Im not saying it makes me confident[its] the idea of the

proximityof just feeling that theres somebody else there,

Dolly. (Heidi: 6)

Peer group isolation resulting from their high levels of intelligence impacted

on two participants to their academic detriment. When she was in

preparatory school and again in Year 8, Vanessa felt different from her

peers. There was little that she could do about it in Prep but I vowed I

would fail Year 8 if I had to rather than feel such difference. (Vanessa: 7)

Charles had a similar experience:

from 15 through to 18, I quite consciously stopped being good

at what I was good at because of social pressure. My grades at

school reflected that and I was happier and my parents werent.

(Charles: 6)

Management style

The positive and negative impacts of different management styles proved to

be the most predominant influence in terms of levels of confidence and

competence. By this I do not mean that management styles had a greater

impact on the confidence and competence of all individuals than any other

influence. Rather, participants referred to management styles more often


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negatively, their confidence and their perceived competence were

diminished, in some cases, significantly. In such circumstances they could

not feel creative about their work. The issue here is not a managers style

per se but the management style combined with the way it is perceived by

members of staff that is critical. This means that if managers want the best

performance from their staff, then their management style is a determining

factor and responsibility for the outcomes becomes much more shared

between manager and member(s) of staff. Clearly this factor warrants

further study.

Parental influence

As with management style, parenting styles had either a positive or

negative effect on how participants perceived themselves and their

potential. Erica commented that in most cases because I had supportive

parents, I always thought I could do most things. (Erica: 5) Anthea had a

similar experience, my parents brought me up believingthat we were

very able not in any particular way but that we were just capable people

(Anthea: 3) and she carried this philosophy into her own parenting.

The negative parenting style to which Betty was subjected provides a strong

contrast:

I was brought up with Youre a little girl. As long as youre

pretty and get married and have babies, thats all you have to

do So I did that And then I found out it wasnt what I really


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It seems that the need for his fathers recognition was stronger than his

mothers influence because Tim went on to say:

apart from my mother who gave me unconditional love. Just

incredible support like always being there at school, telling me

I was marvellousMy mother gave me emotional support and

physical support. (Tim: 7)

Repeating parenting patterns is, as with Anthea, exemplified in Tims

description of his style with his children:

I made a lot of mistakesas a father and if I ever had the

situationwhere I have so young children again, I would

parent absolutely [180] difference in terms of how I would

raise them. I would never use the words Youre hopeless. I

would find some other way Now look, we really need to look

at what youve done there because there has to be a better way

whereas the old me would have said Youre pathetic, youre

hopeless and then not even realising thats impacting on them,

which is terribly sad. (Tim: 6)

Past experience

Some participants used past experience as a coping strategy in different

situations. When talking about a new or additional task Betty said: You

know you can do it because it then reminds you, now hang on, rememberyou did X, Y and Z? You didnt think you could do that either. (Betty: 3)

Jennifer used her early experiences under a negative management style to

influence how she functioned as a manager:


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And Charles used his experiences within ambulance services to provide a

context for organisational pressure:

This workplace here has its traumas. For me, in relation to

what I was doing beforeIm just as susceptible to pressures

here and to some traumas herebut at least I have an

experiential base that I can always put this into some form of

context as if it were not that important. (Charles: 5)

SocialfactorsAt times it was difficult to differentiate between the ways in which social

factors influence confidence/competence beyond needing the approval of

others or making comparisons with them. I believe that social factors are a

discrete influence and this was demonstrated by those participants who

realised that they operate within a social context, that is, in relation to

others, yet their examples were quite different. For example, Jennifer said:

Confidence is something that comes from within but it also comes from

other people. You gain confidence from the people youre working with and

from superiors in particular. (Jennifer: 1) Erica saw socio-economic factors

as being significant: part of my confidence is to do with the fact that I

have been exposed to a range of people in my lifetime (Erica: 6). For

Heidi, social influence functioned more as a reality check:

I have an external frame of reference so I need other people to

tell meIm still even now struggling withhaving a strong

enough internal frame of reference to [know] whether or not

h i h (H idi 3)


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Support

Where do participants gain support? I divided their responses into three

categories: personal, professional and other. Most received personal support

from their family and/or friends and professional support from their work

colleagues. The exceptions to this were the two participants who held the

most senior positions and, as such, felt that they could not seek supportfrom within their organisation (see also Isolation):

as the State Manager, youre seen to be the State Manager so

there are a lot of issuesif you have concerns, you really dont

discuss them with your staff so, sometimes with colleagues

from other states on the phone, face-to-face or colleagues in

Central Office but its a lonely job and thats how it is. (Anthea:

2)

In terms of other support, some participants were in search of something

that could almost be described as spiritual, as providing a greater depth of

meaning to their existence. Jennifer said that it gives me another

dimension. That means that Im not trying to do it in my own strength

(Jennifer: 3-5). Heidi attended a number of personal and professional

development courses but saw this in a larger context:

one of the things that is really going to make a big difference

is just to let go of trying to have control over the whole

situation and just let it happen. Its a bit of trusting in the

universe or whatever (Heidi: 5)


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has become both his life purpose and his motivation for his future work as

he sees it (running seminars for men and writing a book):

even if I do it properly and it doesnt get published, thats fine

too because I have such an inherent belief now in spirit. And I

suppose Im really saying in God. And to me if God wants it

published, its going to be published. If He feels its not

important, but that it was important that I did it, thats fine

too. (Tim: 11)

Critical life events

Experiences of critical life events such as adoption, death, loss of

relationship and loss of job or redundancy had a significant impact on thoseparticipants who talked about such events. Again, it is not possible to give

due consideration to this important influence (Appendix V). Suffice to say

that where death of a family member was concerned, most participants

blocked out grief as a way of coping and reported that this strategy enabled

them to get on with their lives. By contrast, participants dealt with the

loss of a relationship in a variety of ways which included using it as a

motivator to change and/or to achieve with the notion of Ill show them

(Heidi: 9). And those who experienced loss of a job or redundancy described

responses akin to the grief reactions that could have been expected by those

who experienced the death of a family member.

Throughout this chapter I have reported what the participants of this

qualitative case study research had to say about the questions I posed to


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Chapter Four: What does this mean?

Competence and confidence are words that form part of the general

workplace discourse. They are used liberally in job descriptions and

performance appraisals and feature significantly in any employees work

history. Competence seems clear cut; one is either competent or one is not,

and perhaps this has been emphasised by the industry that has emerged

around competency standards. Although confidence is used just as liberally

in the workplace discourse, people are less sure about what it means. What

they do know is that they feel they do better work when they feel better

about themselves.

In this chapter I will integrate the participants observations and

experiences of the relationship between confidence and competence, and

how this impacts on workplace performance, with my personal

understanding and that of other researchers. Firstly, I will discusscompetence; how an individual feels about their competence (inner

competence) and how it is perceived by others (outer competence). I will

then discuss two factors that contribute to the difference between inner and

outer competence: the impostor syndrome or perceived fraudulence, and

optimism, pessimism and depression. Secondly, I will discuss confidence;how an individual feels about their confidence (inner confidence) and how it

is perceived by others (outer confidence). I will then discuss the way

individuals cope or defend against conditions that influence levels of


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Competence

Although competence seems more discernible than confidence, it is not as

straightforward as it seems. It has internal and external components to it;

what I will call inner and outer competence. The term actual competence

will refer to the individuals actual capacity to carry out a certain task or

behaviour in a given domain.

Inner competence

Inner competence is how individuals perceive their own ability, particularly

in the workplace but also in other domains. For example, they may perceive

their inner competence as a family member as altogether different from

their inner competence in a social situation or in the workplace. There are

several factors that impact on inner competence including the impostor

syndrome and/or perceived fraudulence, and whether or not the individual

is an optimist or a pessimist. Regardless of how an individual perceives himor herself, there is likely to be a significant gap between their inner

competence and how it is perceived by others.

Outer competence

This is how individuals perceive anothers competence. Any number of

factors could influence how the observer perceives the competence of the

observed4. Some such factors are the relevant levels of competence of the


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outer competence, what contributes to the difference? Such factors as

familiarity with the task and repetition are important but other issues liehidden in the gap, out of the view of some, but not all observers and in

some cases out of view of the observed themselves.

Impostor syndrome and perceived fraudulence

Kolligian (1990) talks about perceived fraudulence, or impostorous thoughts

and feelings, as a real psychological experience for individuals. He describes

it as a continuum:

at one extreme is the true impostor who assumes multiple

false identities in order to deceive deliberately and, at theother, is the self-perceived impostor who tends to feel

fraudulent and inauthentic when, to the outer observer, he or

she is not. Thus, both extremes encompass self-perceptions;

the continuum is the underlying reality upon which these

perceptions are based. (p. 262)

Deborahs former CEO illustrates the true impostor end of the continuum.

As a classic high achiever, Sandra manipulated people and situations in her

constant move upwards until she was no longer able to sustain the traits

that characterise the true impostor, namely mimicry, excessive use of

charm, and exaggerations all of which lead to narcissistic self-enhancement, perfectionism, and acute audience sensitivity. When that

happens, The discrepancy between the person one is supposed to be and the

person one actually is becomes too vast to reconcile (Kolligian, 1990:264).


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At the other end of the continuum is perceived fraudulence, which is linked

to perceived incompetence. Kolligian (1990) summarises the extensive workdone by Kohut to explain its developmental cycle:

perceived fraudulence may evolve through

(1) an initial defective or incompetent view of the self,

(2) an intolerance for this defective or negative self,

(3) a perceived need for maneuvers that protect the self against

the negative thinking of self and others, leading to both

fraudulent actions and self-perceptions, and

(4) additional negative thoughts and feelings about the self

now because of both incompetence and fraudulence. (p. 268)

In other words, it is not that those who experience perceived

fraudulence/perceived incompetence are actually fraudulent or actually

incompetent. Rather, they are unable to believe that they are competent

and they carry with them a sense that one day someone will discover that

they are really not as competent as they (the observers) think they are.

Although both males and females are prone to this phenomenon, it seems to

be particularly prevalent amongst women (King & Cooley, 1995; Clance et

al, 1995). This study supports that view, as evidenced by comments made

by a number of participants (e.g. Deborah, Albert, Candice, Betty) and as

reported in the previous chapter. Adult education presents one way of

testing such perceptions away from womens traditional domains as most

women who return to study do so with self-doubt and a strong sense of


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about being successful, by allowing her to keep her achievement out of her

awareness. (p. 79)

Breaking away from this pattern presents women with a major challenge to

their perceptions of self, as exemplified by the following two quotes: the first

from Albert drawing on his experience as a university lecturer, and the

second from Betty, a woman who returned to study and within eight yearsbecame a state manager of an organisation overseeing an annual budget of

several million dollars:

the classic example is that of older women once the family

goes they start going back to universityThey start offand

you can see that they were highly competent, they were verycapable people, and they picked things up, but they just lacked

the confidence until they got their first set of results through

and until they started to see that others perceived them as

being capable. (Albert: 3)

Ive only realised that Ive had brains since I was about 44I

was brought up with Youre a little girl. As long as yourepretty and get married and have babies, thats all you have to

do. So I did that. And then found out it wasnt what I really

wantedI enrolled in uni and just to be accepted absolutely

blew me awayAnd I think from that point I suddenly

thought, well, maybe I have got some brains. Maybe I

could and I guess its been incremental since then (Betty:

3)

Vanessa presents a contrasting example of perceived fraudulence. Whereas

( )


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for a fresh start and outer re-evaluation possibly provided Vanessa, as

Kets de Vries (1993) suggests, with:

a form of self-protection, as they give the impostor control

over inner conflict. It is not a particularly large step from this

point to the loss of the capacity to differentiate between fantasy

and realityThey seem to reject and devalue their own

identity, despite their awareness of their own genuine gifts and

talents. (p. 120)

According to Kets de Vries (1993), the impostor syndrome is potentially

inherent in us all:

we all fall victim to negative thoughts and self-doubt. When

these become a grinding preoccupation, however, they can spella miserable life for the individual and those close to him or her.

A great deal of time and effort is [sic] needed in order for the

individual to recapture a sense of authenticity. This change is

difficult but not impossible if we are prepared, and given the

opportunity, to acquire insight into our motivations and

actions. (p. 141)

Optimism, pessimism and depression

Also influencing inner competence is whether or not an individual is an

optimist or a pessimist. Seligman (1990) sums up the differences:

The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to

believe bad events will last a long time, will undermine

everything they do, and are their own fault. The optimists,

h f t d ith th h d k k i th ld


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universal, and internal. The consequence for pessimists is that this can lead

to learned helplessness and, subsequently, to depression (Seligman, 1990).

Erica and Heidi were both made redundant more than once, an experience

that would be likely to demonstrate their tendencies toward optimism or

pessimism. Erica, although being quite cross with [herself] in both cases

[for] not being prepared (Erica, p. 9), used an optimistic explanatory stylefollowing both experiences and subsequently re-evaluated her work choices

to advance her career. Conversely, Heidis pessimistic explanatory style,

expressed in phrases such as Well Geez, can I do anything?I dont see any

of the positives What am I doing wrong? (Heidi, p. 9), portrays the

symptoms of learned helplessness and, in other comments, some if not all of

its accompanying affect depression, anxiety, stress, frustration, hostility,

fatigue, anger, shame, and alienation (Campbell & Martinko, 1998).

Although these explanatory styles and resultant affect may seem more

consistent with confidence, as will be indicated below, Campbell & Martinko

(1998) represent learned helplessness and empowerment as being part of

the same continuum and report its significance in organisational behaviour.

They write that:

As a result of their interpretation of events, empowered

individuals are proposed to be active, to concentrate on tasks,

to be flexible, to be self-initiating, and to be resilient to

obstacles. On the other hand, LH[learned helplessness]

individuals are described as passive, withdrawn, less


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people optimists, for the most part believe that they have

much more control over things than they actually do,

particularly when they are helpless and have no control at

allthey markedly overestimate [sic] their

skillsDepressivesown up to both failure and

successnondepressed people distort reality in a self-serving

direction and depressed people tend to see reality accurately.

(pp. 109-111)

It is because of this ability to see reality accurately (Seligman, 1990;

Shrauger et al, 1998) that pessimists (or depressed people) are needed in

organisations. They are:

the people who have an accurate knowledge of present

realities. They must make sure grim reality continuallyintrudes upon the optimistsThe genius of evolution lies in the

dynamic tension between optimism and pessimism continually

correcting each other. (Seligman, 1990:112-114)

One challenge for organisations is to recognise that for some individuals the

gap between inner and outer competence can be so great that their actual

competence could remain as much a mystery to the observer as it is to the

observed. Even this limited discussion raises the question as to how

competence can be assessed when, despite many claims that it is (or should

be) measurable, it is subject to conscious and unconscious variables.

Confidence


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however slight the difference[they] have not been explicit

about their precise working definitions of these terms, leading

to much confusion (Kolligian 1990: 273)

As with competence, confidence has two components: an inner confidence

which is how one really feels about ones self and an outer confidence that

one projects to others. Authenticity is that potential state of being which we

all seem to seek where there is consistency between inner and outer

confidence, where whatever lies within the gap becomes meaningless in

terms of its ability to impact on ones authenticity.

In Chapter Three, I named a number of factors that influence the levels of

inner and outer confidence. It is not possible to provide detailed

interpretation of each factor within the limitations of this study but, within

its context, I have elected to discuss the following: how people perceive an

event and how they use the experience; why they differ in their choice of

coping strategies or defense mechanisms; and why certain strategies are

successful for some people but not for others.

Coping and defending

Weisman (1984) differentiates between coping and defending:

Coping is a strategic effort to master a problem, overcome an

obstacle, answer a question, dissipate a dilemma anything

that impedes our progressWhen one defends, the primary

aim is to do away with dysphoria The purpose of coping is to


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I set myself challenges quite deliberately based on the things

that my partner, who had robbed me of my confidence, had

done or said I would never be able to doAnd when I first ran

into him when I was commissioned, he deliberately crossed

right over [the road] so that he didnt have to salute me

(Candice:14)

Heidi was angry but she did not deal with the anger in a way that was

either appropriateor healthy. Like Candice, her attitude was

Ill show them because in business they were relatively

successful and Im still struggling to do thatI have glimpses

of them every so often, seeing into my life as it is now, and Id

hate for them to know where Im at. (Heidi: 10)

But, unlike Candice, Heidi sets herself daily and weekly goals which she

inevitably fails to achieve. She lacks a long-term vision beyond that of being

successful one day and her inner confidence, which seriously impacts on her

inner competence, causes her to move in and out of self-employment,

seemingly as fearful of success as she is of failure, although failure seems to

provide her with a greater degree of comfort.

Like Candice, Tim used the breakdown of his second marriage to set a

number of life goals that were personally, professionally and spiritually

oriented. Unlike Candice and Heidi, whose goals were about proving

something to others, that is, strengthening their outer confidence, Tims

goals were focussed on strengthening his inner confidence. His life goals, as


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Both Candice and Tim used positive coping strategies (Weisman, 1984: 36-

37). Heidi, perhaps because of her general learned helplessness, negativelydefended against her situation by using only one strategy, blame. As

Weisman points out,

blaming or shaming someone assigns fault for a misfortune

somewhere outside, probably because we have a sense of

having failed to meet inner expectations or standards.(Weisman, 1984: 57)

The coping strategies used by these participants is interesting in light of a

study about inner or subjective well-being (SWB) in which King et al (1998)

found that:

relations that exist between daily goals and life goals/worst

fears between the ends that we seek and the means to those

ends have implications not only for the quality of goal

pursuits but also for SWB. Although seeking daily goals that

are instrumental to ones life goals weakly predicted SWB,

seeking daily goals that avoid ones most dreaded outcomes wasstrongly associated with lowered SWB. (p. 13)

Candice and Tim were both seeking life goals rather than an avoidance of

their worst fears, which was Heidis motivation. Both were successful,

albeit Candices SWB (her inner confidence) seems much lower than Tims,

that is, having life goals did not necessarily have a strong influence on

Candices inner confidence despite her achievements. Heidis case supports

the other aspect of the researchers claim in that her daily goals were set


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Possible selves and shame

Bandura (1977), Norum & Cantor (1990) and Markus et al (1990) use

different language but stress the importance of the development of possible

selves as being a critical part of the development of a self-schema. Such a

schema enables the individual to move from a current state of low self-

esteem and/or perceived incompetence to a desired future state. The gapbetween the existing self and the future possible self, the self one desires to

be or desires not to be, provides the space in which to set goals and become

motivated to appropriate action to decrease the distance between the

existing self and the future possible self: with effective performance

comes a validation of ones sense of competence and a concomitantstrengthening of identity (Markus et al, 1990: 208). However, these

researchers warn that:

Unless possible selves are rooted in core self-structures they

are likely to remain idle fantasies, because effective

performance depends on a link between desires and goals andthe schemas that contain the relevant procedural knowledge for

realizing them. (Markus et al, 1990: 208)

But what happens if the future possible self remains an idle fantasy? If

success is dependent on a relatively stable existing self, then Markus et al

do not seem to consider the potentially destructive impact if the future

possible self is so distant from the existing self that the ideal self is not

attained and the individual experiences failure. In such circumstances the


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results appear to lend empirical support to the virtues of

positive thinking and imagingUnfortunately, our results also

implicitly suggest that altering ones mental or self-regulatory

focus may not be as straightforward a process as that suggested

by the positive thinking campFrom our perspective, personal

goal adoption must be considered within the more general

context of personhood, and our data suggest that approach and

avoidance goals emerge from general emotional predispositions

and presumably stable self-perceptions. (p. 16)

Heidi, more than any other participant, exhibited a repeated inability to live

up to her own expectations both personally and professionally. Her case

study provides an exaggerated snapshot of what Morrison (1989) considers a

universal experience:

We have all felt shame. We have all suffered feelings of

inferiority, inadequacy, incompetence (p. 1)

self-esteem may represent an inner product of the

relationship between ego and ego ideal or the changing

relationship between representations of an ideal and a currentselfI regard shame as a central ingredient to the experience

of low self-esteemmany of the attributes associated with

depression are the very same qualities and feelings that

generate shame and low self-esteem. In addition, the searing

quality noted frequently in descriptions of the shame

experience appears to reflect a sense of helplessness to alter the

compromised state of the self. Thus, I believe that helplessnessas well is part of both shame and depression. (p. 113)

When this view of shame is considered in conjunction with theories of


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the workers outer confidence, is in danger of exacerbating poor performance

and further diminishing self-esteem rather than enhancing it. It also begsthe question as to how it is possible for the manager to know the inner

confidence of a worker when the worker is consciously and unconsciously

protecting such knowledge out of fear of the repercussions of such

vulnerability and the risk of further shame.

Ego defenses/defense mechanisms

Whereas coping strategies are associated with conscious behaviour and

hence the outer self, ego defenses/defense mechanisms are unconscious

behaviours which are linked to the inner self. They function to protectself-esteem[and]To qualify as a full-fledged defense, it must do more

than merely make people feel better: It must ward off some threat to the

self (Baumeister et al, 1998: 1-2). This threat is usually internal; it is the

way the ego protects itself against any (further) violation to its preferred

view of the self such as the feelings of shame exemplified particularly byHeidi, and the denial expressed by most participants following the death of

a close family member or friend.

Regardless of the coping/defending behaviours people adopt to protect their

self-esteem/inner confidence, they serve a legitimate function in protectingones sense of self. Given this, an understanding of such behaviours needs

to remain a tool for therapy or analysis because bringing them to the level of

h th t ti l t li it th i ff ti Th f I


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and situational factors that influence what needs to be coped

with. (p. 10)

In a post-modern world of uncertainty, how can we judge who chooses which

method(s) to cope with the gaps that lie between their inner and outer

confidence and competence in both the personal and professional domains.

Closing the gap

In this study, all participants experienced gaps between their inner and

outer confidence, as if they did not know who they really were and were

foreigners to themselves. Some participants did not seem to know where

they really belonged professionally; they were either discontented with what

they were doing or had arrived as if by accident or default. As Kristeva

(1991) puts it:

Always elsewhere, the foreigner belongs nowhere. But let there

be no mistake about it: there aretwo kinds of foreignersOn

the one hand, there are those who waste away in an agonizingstruggle between what no longer is and what will never beOn

the other hand, there are those who transcend: living neither

before nor now but beyond, they are bent with a passion that,

although tenacious, will remain forever unsatisfied (p. 10)

For some participants the gaps between their inner and outer confidenceand competence were greater than for others; gaps they admitted impacted

on their workplace performance but did not know how to close. Something


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Some participants drew on a force or power they believed to be greater than

their own to help them deal with closing the gap. Heidi referred to theUniverse (p. 5), Jennifer acknowledged that her greatest support came

from her belief in God and her spiritual life (p. 5) and Tim, having

achieved great professional and material success, was focussing his personal

life and professional future on sharing his spiritual experiences and belief in

the divine, which he called Spirit (p. 3). Moore (1992) writes that:

The great malady of the twentieth century, implicated in all of

our troubles and affecting us individually and socially is loss of

soul. When soul is neglected, it doesnt just go away; it

appears symptomatically in obsessions, addictions, violence,

and loss of meaningFulfilling work, rewarding relationships,

personal power, and relief from symptoms are all gifts of thesoul (xi-xiii)

This study demonstrates that there is a gap between inner and outer

confidence and competence. A number of factors contribute to the width of

such a gap and enhanced or diminished confidence and competence impactson workplace performance. The findings of the researchers cited above

support the findings of this study in relation to the factors that influence

confidence and/or competence and, in a few cases, that this has the potential

to impact on workplace performance. What is particularly evident from this

confidence and competence, their relationship and impact on workplace performance

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