Hi Em. This article is terrific. Thank you for writing it. As I read I was quickly reminded of a friend of mine. Her impressive professional accomplishments are such that completing an Executive MBA made perfect sense at this point.

Instead she felt that path was. “ above her competence level” and opted to take certification courses for status she surpassed 15 years ago. Her career path has been flawless, all because of her hard work and smarts. Yet when she is complimented she deflects or downplays her own focused input.

I do my best to encourage her, first and foremost because I have so much respect for her talents. As you know though, there is only so much a friend can suggest before some sort of line is crossed.

Thanks also for the book recommendation. I will definitely pass it along in any situation that I can. My friend above is a recent example but over time I have seen other women do similar things related to confidence issues.