By Anthony Stockwell
Do leaders need high self-confidence, rather than just self-efficacy?
Self-efficacy is an individual’s judgment about being able to perform a particular activity. A personal example for me: I have high self-efficacy of using lawn mowing equipment as I am from the turfgrass industry, but I have very low self-efficacy in the kitchen as my wife tends to do all the cooking, and when I cook anything it usually is terrible!
Self-efficacy indicates how strongly people believe they have the skills to do well; they may believe other factors will keep them from succeeding. (Petty, 2004) Whereas, self-confidence relates to how people feel about their worth or value. By knowing the difference in this terminology, it begs the question: Why can some people lead in certain situations or environments but are hopeless in others? And does a good leader in all situations need high self-confidence?
According to Northouse(201 ) self-confidence is another trait that helps someone be a leader. It is the ability to be certain about one’s proficiencies and the belief that they can make a difference. It allows the leader to feel assured that their attempts to influence others are appropriate. Furthermore research from Bandura (1997) confirms that leaders who have confidence are more likely to be motivated to succeed, to be persistent when obstacles arise. It can therefore be concluded that those who lack confidence but have high self-efficacy will not make good leaders in all situations.
References:
Petty, G (2004) Teaching today a practical guide (4th edition) Nelson Thornes; Cheltenham.
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. (6th edition). Thousand Oaks: Sage
adr5316 says
I believe self-efficacy and self-confidence are both essential to being a leader. Having self-confidence to me is much more important to leaders. Based on your definitions, I can come to the conclusion that I can gain knowledge about how things work; such as the laser etcher in my work center. Before I asked for a class I had very low self-efficacy about using the tool before acquiring the knowledge to use the tool. Based on this experience, I have concluded that I have the ability to gain self-efficacy at will.
Self-confidence is much more powerful. Having self-confidence means you’re comfortable with who you are and what you are doing it is not just mastering a task. A master computer programmer; with low self-confidence, may feel comfortable as they go about their tasks. But if you take that same individual and take them outside of their comfort zone and have them manage a restaurant, they may find the task incredibly overwhelming. They may emotionally break; however, a self-confident computer programmer in the same scenario may experience difficulty but feel like they belong managing that restaurant and will be more optimistic when accomplishing the same task.