Head & Shoulders, the shampoo company, recently surveyed 2,000 British women about their confidence level and 48% said they believe that they would have progressed further in their careers if they had more confidence.

First of all, it is a little surprising that a shampoo company is interested in women’s career advancement. C’mon, right? I guess they believe that eliminating dandruff helps women gain confidence.  That being said, the results of their survey are not surprising at all.

It has been my experience coaching hundreds of professional women that we, as women, underplay our value and, in fact, often don’t recognize how much we contribute to our organization. Because we don’t realize our value, we don’t behave or show up in the workplace with confidence. This is reflected in our body language, our communication, and our lack of executive presence. Quite simply, lack of confidence leads others to believe we don’t have leadership potential.

I’m not suggesting that we fake confidence. What I am suggesting, however, is that we take the time to understand our value proposition, and that once we fully embrace how much we contribute to the positive outcomes of our business, we will have more confidence in the workplace.

Ask yourself these questions:

• ·         What is unique about the way I do my work based on who I am?

• ·         How does my work contribute to positive business outcomes?

To help you keep track of all your accomplishments, start a success journal. Make an entry every night of everything, big and small, that you accomplished that day. At the end of the week, review your entries and ask yourself what does this say about me?

Repeat after me: I’m awesome!

I’m awesome because I am very sensitive to people’s wants and needs and that allows me to build strong relationships with clients which increases customer loyalty and impacts the bottom line.

I’m awesome because I can see solutions to complex problems and have the ability to break down projects into actionable steps for my team which allows the team to be productive. We complete our projects on time and within our budget which contributes positively to the bottom line.

How are you awesome?

Create your value proposition and your mantra and keep it visible in your work space.

Repeat after me: I’m awesome. I’m talented, competent, and add value to my department, my direct reports, my boss and my organization every day!