An Exploration of Male Self- Confidence in the Coaching Context Presented by Jackie Fitzgerald at...
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Transcript of An Exploration of Male Self- Confidence in the Coaching Context Presented by Jackie Fitzgerald at...
An Exploration of Male Self-Confidence in the Coaching
Context
Presented by Jackie Fitzgerald at the 11th Annual Coaching and Mentoring Research Conference, Oxford Brookes University.
15 January 2015
Why this topic?
• Male self-confidence not well understood – almost a taboo
‘Men who lack confidence? Don’t you despise them?’
• Not clear what self-confidence ‘is’.
• How can coaching improve confidence?
References to search terms on Google
• Indicate familiarity with terminology (Shamma et al, 2004; Kelly & Cool, 2002)
• Self-confidence = 129m results
• Self-esteem = 53m results• Self-efficacy = 9.5m
results(search carried out 27/5/14)
Literature review• No clear definition/understanding of self-confidence
– Lies at the interface of abilities and personality (Stankov & Crawford, 1997)
• Little found on male self-confidence specifically (except arrogance)
• Men & women have similar levels of self-esteem (Reitzes & Mutran, 1994)
• Degree of Gender Role Conflict (O’Neill, 2013) affects confidence
• Confident men feel competent (Reitzes & Mutran, 1994)• Not clear whether & how coaching helps self-confidence
issues
Research method
• Intepretivist paradigm + pre theory status of question = IPA study
• 6 outwardly successful men aged 40-65 • All had been coached and/or mentored• Semi-structured interviews• Data transcribed and analysed following
Smith, Flowers & Larkin (2009) process
Superordinate themes3 emerged:1.The uniqueness of the RP’s attitudes towards and experiences of self-confidence2.Control as a factor in increasing self-confidence3.The need for someone to talk to
1. The uniqueness of self-confidence
What self-confidence means to the RP’s RP1 RP2 RP3 RP4 RP5 RP6
Trust in my own ability, competence X X X X X X
It depends on context/the situation X X X X X
Accepting myself, being comfortable in own skin, being
congruent
X X X X
Financial security X X X
An act, what I project X X X
Being well-prepared, having practiced X X
Something you can work on and change X X
What affects RP confidence?What affects your confidence? RP1 RP2 RP3 RP4 RP5 RP6
The situation & context X X X X X XHaving someone to talk to X X X X X XKnowing what's in store, familiarity X X X XBeing part of a good team X X XFamily support X X X
Autonomy, making my own decisions X XBeing successful X XCongruence X XPractice X XCompetence X X X X XBy acting it I become it X XPast experience X XInformation X XFinancial security X XHow high the stakes are X XBeing in the right place in the world X XHaving things under control X XAdding value, making a difference XWanting to be confident XKnowing you're doing the right thing XAge XPhysical attributes XEducation XChange XCuriosity, being open minded XPositive attitude XPlanning, preparation XBeing judged, what other people think X
2. Aspects of self-confidence
• Having: resources, skills, experience, power, autonomy, security, someone to talk to
• Doing: Education, training, research, planning, practice
• Being: congruence, authenticity• Clear distinction between work and social or
quasi-social situations: linked to control?• Arrogance a means of taking control?
Factors influencing confidence
External Internal
Being judged -ve Competence +veFamily expectations generally -ve Congruence +veMasculine role expectations -ve Self-acceptance +veHaving a good team around you +ve Positive attitude +veFamily support +ve Wanting to be confident +veHaving someone to talk to +ve Experience +veEducation +ve
Physical attributes (eg height, weight) both Financial Security +veSocial background both Familiarity +veThoughts often -ve Preparation +veAge often -ve Skill & knowledge acquisition +veSituation/context both Experience +veBeing in a competitive situation both Autonomy +veLow stakes +ve
Random Control
Factors influencing confidence
Effects of low confidence
• Reported effects strikingly similar: sleeplessness, physical discomfort, changes to posture, illness:
• RP3: So, it’s that…it’s just, it’s unsettling. So, you wake up in the middle of the night, you don’t get back to sleep. So, you go and chop a tree down at five in the morning, except the chainsaw will wake everybody up, so you can’t do that either. You just end up pacing round the house.
• Coping strategies: distraction, physical activity, withdrawal
3. Someone to talk to• All considered this important
– Can’t talk to their wives, keep them out of things• Slightly motivational, more of a sounding board:• RP4: I would say overall its nearly always been
positive because its helped me deal with, for want of a better word, nagging doubts about things, and not in a massively life changing way, but in a positive reinforcing way, in a ‘there is nothing wrong with you thinking that’ kind of thing and occasionally a little bit of a gee up about ‘yeah, I do need to be…’
What the RP’s wanted from their coach
• Listen, support, teach & guide• Get them through ‘stuff’• Affirm, confirm thinking and decisions• Validation more than motivation • Most valued a mentor rather than a coach• However the coaching experience was
transformational for some
Implications for coaching practice 1:
• Idiosyncrasy of self-confidence re-emphasised the importance of initial contracting.
RP5 ‘That makes me think. One of my clients, a senior guy in banking, he wanted coaching on some self-confidence stuff and I never thought to find out what he meant because I thought I knew what he meant. We are going to be having a very different conversation in a few weeks.’
• Does the client want coaching or mentoring?
Implications for coaching practice 2:
• Coach must find out what self-confidence means to that client & what combination of factors influences their confidence
• Set aside value judgements - remain client centred
• Focus on context and situation – Can coaching help given the context?
Implications for coaching practice 3:
• Frequent temperature-checking needed– Situation may change– Client may not raise confidence themselves
• Confidence warning signs:– Sleeplessness, illness, slouching– Withdrawal, reticence, avoidance of issues,
arrogance (Berglas, 2006)– Focus on/concerns about decision-making
Implications for coaching practice 4: Suitable approaches
• Client-centred to address the highly individual nature of male self-confidence
• Skills and performance for those with strong ‘doing’ bias or in task/performance contexts
• Strengths-based– Known to improve confidence & self-esteem (Hodges
& Clinton, 2004; Linley & Harrington, 2008)– Addresses fear of showing weakness (Brown, 2012)
Further research
• Do gender role expectations matter more for younger, less affluent men?
• What differences are there between how men and women recognise & deal with self-confidence
• Is there a developmental aspect to confidence?
Contact info
Written and presented by Jackie Fitzgerald
[email protected]: 01235 861 311
m: 07833 478 761 twitter: @jfitzbizcoach
All slides © Jackie Fitzgerald 2015
ReferencesBerglas, S. (2006) ‘How to keep A players productive’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 84, Issue 9, pp. 104-112.Brown, B. (2012) Daring Greatly How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. London: Penguin Books. Kindle edition.Hodges, T.D., Clinton, D.O. (In press) Strengths Based Development in Practice In: Linley, P.A., & Joseph, S. (eds.) International Handbook of Positive Psychology in Practice: From Research to Application. New Jersey: Wiley and Sons. Available from: http://strengths.uark.edu/development-in-practice.pdf [Accessed 25 September 2014].Kelly, D., Cool, C. (2002) ‘The effects of topic familiarity on information search behavior’ In: Proceedings of the 2nd ACM/IEEE-CS joint conference on Digital libraries. New York:ACM. Available from http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=544232 [Accessed June 9 2014].Linley, P.A., Harrington, S. (2006) ‘Strengths Coaching: A potential-guided approach to coaching psychology’. International Coaching Psychology Review Vol. 1 No. 1, 37:46O’Neil, J.M. (2013) ‘Gender role conflict research 30 years later: an evidence-based diagnostic schema to assess boys and men in counseling’, Journal of Counseling and Development, Vol. 91, pp. 490-498.Reitzes, D.C., Mutran, E.J. (1994) ‘Multiple roles and identities: factors influencing self-esteem among middle-aged working men and women’, Social Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 57, No.4, pp. 313-325.Shamma, D.A, Owsley,S., Bradshaw, S., Sood, S., Budzik, J., Hammond, K. (2004) Using the Web as a Measure of Familiarity and Obscurity. Available from: www.researchgate.net [Accessed June 9, 2014].Smith, J.A., Flowers, P., Larkin, M. (2009) Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Theory, Method and Research. London: Sage.Stankov, L., Crawford, J. (1997) ‘Self-confidence and performance on tests of cognitive abilities.’ Intelligence Vol. 25, Issue 2, pp. 93-109.