The power behind successful leadership lies in confidence

Lynn Madeley, CEO and Co-Founder, High Performance Matters

Over the course of her 30-year career in business, which has spanned three continents and included core C-suite roles with Havas Southern Africa and the Publicis Groupe Africa, Madeley says one thing has consistently stood out to her:

People perform best when they feel confident. Confidence is not a nice-to-have. It is a performance requirement. When people feel fearful, unsupported or psychologically unsafe, performance deteriorates. Athletes call it choking under pressure. The same thing happens in organisations every day.

"Great leaders understand this," she asserts. "They build cultures that are supportive, accountable and exceptionally clear. Not necessarily comfortable, but safe enough for people to think, contribute and perform at their best."

Developing into a confident leader

Having been adopted as a newborn, Madeley says that people often assume it has left a profound mark.

"The truth is far less dramatic," she confesses. "I was blessed with wonderful parents who did everything they could for me and made a lot of sacrifices along the way. More importantly, they gave me every ounce of confidence a child could hope for."

Madeley's father, who recently passed away, imparted many valuable lessons and beliefs, fundamentally shaping her business mindset and the way she leads today.

He taught her that "leadership is rarely about easy answers".

"It's about making difficult decisions while staying true to your values," she explains. "Most importantly, he never placed limits on what I could achieve. There was never a ceiling.

"He taught me about business, expected me to think independently and gave me the confidence to navigate environments that were unquestionably male dominated. That confidence became one of the greatest gifts of my life."

Equestrian equality

Madeley developed a love of horses at a very young age, and attributes her involvement in equestrian sport as another major influence that shaped her worldview.

With experience as both a national and international competitor, she points out that "equestrian sport is unusual because men and women compete directly against one another".

"In that environment, gender was largely irrelevant. We shared the physical work. We competed against each other. We learned from each other. We won and lost on equal terms.

"The lesson became deeply ingrained: Capability mattered more than gender."

Being the better woman

Today Madeley describes herself as "older, bolder and [caring] more than ever about celebrating success in other people and businesses". When she's not working, she can be found riding her bike, hugging her dog or talking to friends and family from all over the world.

During her years in corporate, she maintains she experienced very few challenges as a women but believes it was because she prempted situations.

"I couldn’t be stereotyped, not in how I looked, or how I spoke or what I talked about," she elaborates. "And when the situation became a little ‘boys club-ish’, I didn’t get angry and I didn’t get even. I demonstrated that I was better. And as much as we shouldn’t have to do it, you only need to do it once and then you will get your voice and opinion heard."

She has, however, witnessed many female colleagues hesitate before challenging decisions or asking difficult questions for fear of being viewed as 'aggressive'. Her advice to women this Women's Month is this: "Your perspective has value. Find ways to express it confidently and constructively.

"Invest in your confidence. Surround yourself with people who believe in you. Stay anchored to your values. Speak up when it matters. Look after your physical, mental and emotional well-being."

She encourages women in the boardroom to positively stand out and be heard "by presenting facts and data. By thinking in a deliberate manner. By being strong, though not loud. By not pouring the coffee.

"It’s all about your energy and how you feel about yourself. If you believe you belong, then you do, and will be treated as such."

Iconic leadership

Among the women Madeley views as icons are Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Michelle Obama: "[Ginsberg] always stood for gender equality and civil rights. She was instrumental in the passing of the the Affordable Care Act in the US and of legalising same-sex marriage."

Meanwhile, she admires Obama for her efforts to encourage young people to stay in education, as well as her Let’s Move programme, which campaigns for healthier living.

However, as Madeley embarks on her "third career" at the helm of HPM, it's clear her greatest influence remains her father: "I realise that his greatest gift wasn't teaching me about business. It was teaching me to believe I belonged in it."

And while leadership can be a tough and lonely road sometimes, she maintains it is also a privilege.

In the end, she says, being a great leader is not about whether you're a man or a woman, it's about what you are made of: "The stronger your foundation, the stronger your ability to lead others.

"Ultimately, leadership is not a male skill or a female skill. Leadership is a human skill."