Insights · Executive Confidence
Confidence vs. competence: why capable leaders still hesitate.
Competence is knowing you can do it. Confidence is believing it when it counts. Here's why high performers still hold back, and how leaders close the gap.
By Tara LaFon Gooch, MBA · 7 min read
Competence is having the skills to do something. Confidence is believing you can do it, especially under pressure or in front of others. Many highly capable leaders hesitate not because they lack ability, but because change, visibility, or a new role triggers self-doubt. Closing that gap is what turns potential into performance.
What's the difference between confidence and competence?
Competence is built by learning. Confidence is built by doing, and by how you interpret what happens when you do.
You can be highly competent and still lack confidence. In fact, it's common among high performers. They know enough to see everything that could go wrong.
And the gap shows up most during change: a new role, a new system, a bigger stage. The skills haven't disappeared. The certainty has.
Why capable leaders hesitate
Even senior leaders aren't immune. In a KPMG study of high-performing executive women, 75 percent said they had personally experienced imposter syndrome at certain points in their careers. And 56 percent feared the people around them wouldn't believe they were as capable as expected.
That's not a skills problem. It's a confidence problem. And it shows up in ways that cost organizations:
Leaders who stay quiet in the meeting where their insight was needed
Managers who avoid a new tool because they don't want to look like a beginner
High performers who turn down the stretch role
Teams that wait for certainty before they act
You don't need more competence. You need permission to use it.
My biggest fear
Public speaking was once my biggest fear. Not a mild discomfort. My biggest fear.
I spent 21 years in corporate sales, so I knew how to communicate. Competence wasn't the issue. Confidence was. I didn't walk on stage as a speaker until 2023.
Then I gave a TEDx talk with no slides, and it has now been viewed more than 415,000 times. What changed wasn't my skill set. It was what I believed about myself, built one practice at a time.
How do you build confidence when you're already competent?
Start with gratitude. Gratitude for who you were, who you are, and who you're becoming reminds you of the evidence you already have.
Take responsibility for your growth. Stop waiting to feel ready. Readiness is a decision.
Act before you feel certain. Confidence follows action, not the other way around.
Get clear on who you're becoming. You can't be what you can't see.
Anchor in purpose. When the why is bigger than the fear, you move.
Those five steps are The GRASP Method™, the framework I use with executives and teams.
What leaders can do for their teams
Normalize the beginner phase. Say out loud that nobody is expected to be fluent on day one.
Recognize courage, not just results. Praise the person who tried the new thing, even if it wasn't perfect.
Share your own learning curve. When leaders admit what they're still figuring out, it gives everyone else permission.
Give people a stage. Confidence grows when people are trusted with visibility.
The bottom line
Most organizations don't have a talent problem. They have a confidence problem. Competence gets people in the room. Confidence is what makes them speak up once they're there.
Explore executive coaching, read What is executive presence?, or bring Confidence at the Speed of Change to your team.
Sources: KPMG, Advancing the Future of Women in Business (2020 Women's Leadership Summit Report)
About the author
Tara LaFon Gooch, MBA
Keynote speaker, executive coach, and certified Personal Change Management Instructor. Tara spent 21 years in corporate before creating The GRASP Method™, and now helps leaders and teams build the confidence to lead change that lasts.