The Confidence Code

The New York Times bestseller, now in paperback and updated with a new introduction

Confidence. We want it. We need it. But it can be maddeningly enigmatic and out of reach. The authors of the New York Times bestseller Womenomics deconstruct this essential, elusive, and misunderstood quality and offer a blueprint for bringing more of it into our lives.

Is confidence hardwired into the DNA of a lucky few, or can anyone learn it? Is it best expressed by bravado, or is there another way to show confidence? Which is more important: confidence or competence? Why do so many women, even the most successful, struggle with feelings of self-doubt? Is there a secret to channeling our inner confidence and finally overcoming the imposter syndrome?

In The Confidence Code, journalists Katty Kay and Claire Shipman travel to the frontiers of neuroscience on a hunt for the confidence gene, exploring the power of brain plasticity and surprising new research on its roots in our brains. They visit the world’s leading psychologists who explain how we can all choose to become more confident simply by taking action and courting risk, and how those actions change our physical wiring. They interview women leaders from the worlds of politics, sports, the military, and the arts to learn how they have tapped into this elemental resource. They examine how a lack of confidence impacts our leadership, success, and fulfillment.

Ultimately, they argue, while confidence is partly influenced by genetics, it is not a fixed psychological state. That’s the good news. You won’t discover it by thinking positive thoughts or by telling yourself (or your children) that you are perfect as you are. You also won’t find it by simply squaring your shoulders and faking it. But it does require a choice for all women in leadership: less people pleasing and perfectionism and more action, risk taking, and fast failure.

Inspiring, insightful, and persuasive, The Confidence Code shows that by acting on our best instincts and by daring to be authentic, women can feel the transformative power of a life on confidence.

This insightful book offers an evidence-based toolkit for building the self-belief you deserve:

• The Neuroscience of Confidence: Discover surprising new research on the 'confidence gene,' brain plasticity, and how simple actions can physically rewire your brain for self-assurance.
• Competence Isn't Enough: Learn why so many successful women struggle with feelings of self-doubt and why confidence―more than competence―is the key to getting ahead.
• Action Over Perfectionism: Trade people-pleasing and analysis paralysis for a new habit of action, risk-taking, and fast failure―the essential ingredients for a confident life.
• A Growth Mind-Set: Find out how to stop internalizing setbacks and start seeing challenges not as a reflection of your ability, but as an opportunity for progress.
• Lessons from Leaders: Gain inspiration from interviews with trailblazing women in politics, sports, and the military who reveal how they tapped into their own elemental confidence.

Katty Kay is the anchor of BBC World News America, based in Washington, DC. She is also a frequent contributor to Meet the Press and Morning Joe and a regular guest host for The Diane Rehm Show on NPR. She’s the author, along with Claire Shipman, of two New York Times bestsellers, Womenomics: Work Less, Achieve More, Live Better and The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance—What Women Should Know. In addition to her work on women’s issues, Katty has covered the Clinton administration sex scandal, four presidential elections, and the wars in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. She was at the Pentagon just twenty minutes after a hijacked plane flew into the building on 9/11—one of her most vivid journalistic memories is of interviewing soldiers still visibly shaking from the attack. Katty grew up all over the Middle East, where her father was posted as a British diplomat. She studied modern languages at Oxford and is a fluent French and Italian speaker with some “rusty Japanese.” Katty juggles her journalism with raising four children with her husband, a consultant. Visit Katty online at www.theconfidencecode.com.

Claire Shipman is a journalist, author, and public speaker. She’s the author, along with Katty Kay, of two New York Times bestsellers, Womenomics: Work Less, Achieve More, Live Better and The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance—What Women Should Know. Before turning to writing, Claire spent almost three decades as an award-winning television journalist. For the last fourteen years, Claire was a regular contributor to Good Morning America and other national broadcasts for ABC News. Before that, she served as White House correspondent for NBC News, where she regularly reported on presidential policy and politics for NBC Nightly News and Today. Prior to that, she worked for CNN for a decade, covering the White House, and she was also posted in Moscow for five years, reporting on the fall of the Soviet Union. Claire’s coverage from Moscow helped CNN earn a National Headliners Award and a coveted Peabody Award. She received a DuPont Award and an Emmy Award for coverage of the 1989 Tiananmen Square student uprising, as well as a DuPont Award for CNN’s coverage of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. She graduated from Columbia College and later earned a master’s degree from the School of International Affairs there. She’s now a member of Columbia’s board of trustees. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband and their two children and three dogs. Visit Claire online at www.theconfidencecode.com.