The Confidence Cornerstone: A Woman's Guide to Fearless Leadership

By Catherine Gates

Have you felt the calling to leadership only to struggle with your ideas being heard?

Have you experienced the tension of trying to be the best employee, mother, wife, friend and church member only to be left feeling inadequate? If you feel isolated and confused about the mixed messages you hear and what the Bible actually says

• Language: English
• Publisher: Author Academy Elite
• Release date: Nov 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781647464387

Catherine Gates

Catherine Gates is Senior Director of Content & Partnerships for Workmatters, equipping Christians to close the gap between their faith and work. Catherine writes workplace leadership Bible studies and devotionals. She is on the board of Ladies of Grace, a women's prison ministry. Her mission is to equip Christian women to reach more of their God-given potential.

Book preview

Praise

By weaving the stories of today’s female leaders with her own experience as a Christian woman in the workplace, Catherine unveils the way modern business falls short of God’s plan, and how we can all move forward in confidence.

Leah Archibald, Theology of Work Project and

Host of the Making It Work Podcast

"The Confidence Cornerstone will equip you to fulfill the call of leadership in your life. Whether you question your purpose or simply need affirmation, Catherine provides encouragement, biblical support, and faith-filled strategies to solidify and level up your identity. You are an image-bearer of God. You are needed for such a time as this. The Confidence Cornerstone proves it."

Daphne V. Smith, Author of What’s YOUR Scarlet Letter?, Speaker and Coach

Catherine Gates has a passion for growing women into confident leaders in their sphere of influence. Her heart and well communicated wisdom make this a compelling book for every woman to read. Catherine highlights the need for men and women to work alongside each other in a healthy way, directs the reader to embrace biblical principles, and encourages application through the engaging stories that she shares. Her positive approach to confidence and belief in the Creator who so generously provides make me ready to overcome obstacles and believe in the woman God created me to be. I’m grateful that Catherine has dedicated herself to this important message and pray for every reader to rise in the confidence it will awaken.

Martha Brangenberg, iWork4Him Co-Host

"The Confidence Cornerstone is a must-read if you are determined to become all that God has planned for you to be. Author Catherine Gates has carefully crafted a roadmap for living a life of impact. The practical strategies, scriptural guidance and inspiring teaching she shares will help you find the confidence to make an enduring difference in the world."

Elise Mitchell, Founder and CEO, EliseMitchell.com, Author of

Leading Through the Turn:

How a Journey Mindset Can Help

Leaders Find Success and Significance

"The Confidence Cornerstone will cause the reader to pause and reassess how well you are deploying God’s gifts and living up to His purpose in our lives. Catherine Gates creates a compelling case that more women need to answer the call to take bold steps of faith in their growth as leaders. At a time when the world needs strong, godly leaders, we need to see men and women as God created us all—as His image-bearers with a common mandate. And for women, confidence is a cornerstone for achieving your full potential. Catherine takes you on a discovery journey while providing solid biblical support for God’s design for women and faith-based strategies to gain the confidence you need to be the leaders we were created to be. The Confidence Cornerstone provides a much-needed message for us all, today."

Celia Swanson, Speaker and Author of

Gracious and Strong: How to Rise Above the Unexpected Left Turns of Life and Leadership

"There’s likely not a time in human history when we more needed strong, godly leaders. Men and women share a common mandate to work together to bring human flourishing to God’s creation. But too often, we’ve ignored the important leadership contribution God designed women to make—with ruinous results.

In The Confidence Cornerstone, Catherine Gates encourages women to fully bring their gifts and talents to the table as they lead and lean into their identity in Christ. She offers solid biblical support for God’s design for women, real world examples, and faith-filled strategies they can apply to gain the confidence they need to be the leaders God created them to be."

Dr. Bill Peel, Founder, 24Seven Project;

Pioneer in the Faith at Work Movement;

Best-selling Author; Husband to the Fabulous Kathy Peel

"The Confidence Cornerstone provides a much-needed message for today-that in order to flourish, our companies, governments, churches and communities need more women in leadership working alongside men. Catherine Gates exposes unhealthy cultural norms that hold women back and are not aligned with God’s plan for His image-bearers. Thoroughly based in Scripture, Gates provides compelling stories, personal experiences, and practical strategies that will change the way you think about God’s call to leadership in your own life."

Denise Daniels, Ph.D., Hudson T. Harrison Chair of Entrepreneurship, Wheaton College

"Catherine Gates’s The Confidence Cornerstone is a well-written guide to opening your mind to what is possible when you understand who you are, what unique skills you offer and why it all matters. Most importantly, she adds the secret ingredient to success, ‘One more thing—it’s going to take Jesus.’ If you are a woman who has struggled to take the next step in your career or are fearful of what people might think if you try and fail, this book is for you. Don’t just read it alone. Invite some friends to join you and watch your confidence and faith grow!"

Kathy Book, Founder,

Women in the Marketplace

"Grounded in Biblical principles, Catherine provides actionable steps to help Christian woman chart their path to confidence and leadership. The Confidence Cornerstone is a must read for women of faith who want to flourish into the purpose driven leaders God intended them to be."

Ellie Nieves, Founder, The Christian Career Women Network

"I love that when Jesus rises from the grave, He commissions a woman to go tell the disciples that He is risen—essentially making her the first evangelist. And the world has wrestled ever since with the implications of that one divine moment, when the risen Lord restores the voice of woman. In this book, The Confidence Cornerstone, Catherine Gates persuasively writes about the true and noble purpose of women, created in His image. Read the book, discover your worth and use your God-given voice to be a difference-maker wherever you find yourself planted!"

Joan Turley, CEO and Founder, 3 Strand Strategies Salon and Spa Coaching and Consulting; Author, Sacred Work in Secular Places: An Invitation to Partner with God in A Beautiful Broken World

With this book, Catherine Gates challenges and guides women to realize their God-given potential as leaders—not only because we are worthy of the opportunity, but also because the good of the world requires all of us, men and women, to bring our whole selves to our work and relationships.

Rebecca Jantz Johnson, leadership coach and founder of the Second Journey community for professional women

Copyright © 2020 by Catherine Gates. All rights reserved.

Published by Author Academy Elite

P.O. Box 43, Powell, OH 43035

www.AuthorAcademyElite.com

All rights reserved. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without express written permission from the author.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64746-436-3

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-64746-437-0

eBook ISBN: 978-1-64746-438-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020915219

Available in paperback, hardback, e-book, and audiobook

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States

2020—First Edition

The Confidence Cornerstone

A Woman’s Guide to Fearless Leadership

Catherine Gates

I dedicate this book first to my mother who raised me tobelieve in God and demonstrated her strong faith and perseverance in the face of very difficult challenges.

I am absolutely certain her prayers are the reason

I am still alive and finally gave my life to the Lord.

I also dedicate it to my sisters and brother, the people who know me like no one else does and with whom I have walked the most difficult life experiences. I am grateful for the very different qualities each one has brought to my life.

May you, dear reader, discover confidence you never imagined possible through your faith in Jesus Christ and in community with your sisters in Christ to be the leader God created you to be.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: WHY I FELT COMPELLED TO WRITE THIS BOOK

PART 1:

WOMEN LEADERS AND

THE IMPACT OF CONFIDENCE

CHAPTER 1:

WHY WE NEED MORE WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

CHAPTER 2:

EXTERNAL FACTORS THAT DIMINISH WOMEN’S CONFIDENCE

CHAPTER 3:

INTERNAL FACTORS THAT MESS WITH WOMEN’S CONFIDENCE (AKA B.S.)

CHAPTER 4:

THE WHAT AND WHY OF CONFIDENCE

PART 2:

DISCOVERING THE CORNERSTONE

TO GREATER CONFIDENCE

CHAPTER 5:

TAPPING INTO THE CONFIDENCE CORNERSTONE

CHAPTER 6:

GOD DESIGNED YOU FOR A PURPOSE

CHAPTER 7:

YOU CAN COUNT ON GOD

CHAPTER 8:

UNSHAKABLE CONFIDENCE GROWS THROUGH FAITH

PART 3:

ACTING ON YOUR

NEWFOUND CONFIDENCE

CHAPTER 9:

STEP OUT OF THE BOAT (AKA: YOUR COMFORT ZONE)

CHAPTER 10:

CONFIDENCE EXPANDS IN COMMUNITY

CHAPTER 11:

YOUR CONFIDENCE ACTION PLAN

CHAPTER 12:

WE ALL WIN WHEN WE WORK IN UNITY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

BONUS SONG PLAYLIST

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

WORKMATTERS RESOURCES

INTRODUCTION:

WHY I FELT COMPELLED TO WRITE THIS BOOK

Throughout the course of my career, I have seen women struggle and fight to be recognized for their skills and leadership, and I have been one of them. I’ve experienced the challenges of being a woman in male-dominated industries. And I’ve dealt with the frustrations of sharing my dreams and ideas only to have them dismissed, minimized or ignored. Despite all of the discussion that has taken place in the news, in corporations and in the public arena, change has been painfully slow for women to be able to advance in their careers based on their skill and performance. It’s been especially slow for women who feel called to pursue executive-level leadership roles.

In 2007, I joined the National Association of Mothers’ Centers (NAMC). The vision of the organization was a society where the work of taking care of others is valued, supported, at the center of public discussion and a priority in public policy. This non-profit organization was birthed from a social worker’s research revealing that many women were suffering from issues with self-esteem, self-confidence and a sense of isolation after becoming mothers. They were struggling with a lack of community, support and encouragement.

The NAMC helped me to become more aware of the real deficit our country has been suffering from with respect to women in leadership, both in government and in business. As an organization, we encouraged women to pursue political office so they could influence public policy in favor of caregiving activities, e.g., Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). At that time, women held only six percent of executive positions in Fortune 500 companies.¹ The lack of women executives also meant that there was less attention to family-friendly corporate policies.

Today, more than 13 years later, we are still having the same conversations. I work with women across many different industries and at all levels of organizations. The one thing I find striking is the fact that very little has changed for women. Thankfully, the conversations to promote change are getting louder and more prevalent, but what we need is a transformation. That transformation requires that more women become bolder about stepping out to lead, that we all participate in changing the conversation and that men get involved as well. If we take a look at the corporate landscape across industries today, the numbers are still as low as five percent in some industries, going up to only 20 percent in others.² Clearly all of the public discussion and corporate diversity programs are falling desperately short.

Yet, when I study the Bible and God’s design for human beings, it is clear that He created men and women to work together, to contribute their skills and collaborate to build His Kingdom here on earth. God created men and women for the same purpose: to fill and subdue the earth (Genesis 1:28). He gave men and women the same cultural mandate and designed us to work together, side by side, so that we can have the best world and lives possible. 1 Corinthians 11:11 says, Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman. Our roles may be different in different situations. We are each blessed with different skills and talents. But each of us is of equal value and importance. My study of God’s Word has helped me to see that God values men and women equally and has created each of us to do good works (Ephesians 2:10).

Of course, we must put God at the center of it all for it to work and be of any value at all. But once that is in place, the next important thing to realize is that God blessed men and women to work together in community, as God exists in community—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The contributions of both men and women are necessary to bring about the joy, fulfillment and purposes God created us for. Yet, that is not how the world operates, nor has it for thousands of years.

In my own effort to grow as a leader, my friend Laurie Malloy, a business coach, suggested that I read The Confidence Code by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman. This book sheds so much light on what has been holding women back in an area we have the power to change—our confidence. As we understand what hinders our confidence, we can be intentional about overcoming our own self-limiting beliefs. However, the authors’ recommendations to get out of your comfort zone and take more risks, or fail fast,³ were niggling at me. All I could think was, How do you do that without faith?

My faith journey has taught me that we all experience failure from time to time, but when you seek God first each day and lean on the Holy Spirit for wisdom, you are more likely to take smart risks and not be discouraged by failure. I know that God can turn my failures around so that all things work together for good (Romans 8:28), and that gives me the confidence and courage I need to persevere.

I repeatedly shared my excitement about the book with friends. One friend told me she chose the book as the next resource for her workplace Bible study group. I immediately thought, I need to provide a scriptural supplement they can use with it. It was during a conversation with my friend Toyin on a drive home from Little Rock that it hit me. I told her about a writing retreat I had signed up for. The requirements for participating were that you had to be a published author and have a solid book idea. I had published workplace Bible studies, but I really didn’t know what I would write a book about. Then I told her about The Confidence Code and how important I thought it was to include a biblical supplement. Then it hit me, Oh wow! That’s the book I need to write.

I deeply want to help other women tap into this knowledge and grow in their confidence based on who they are in Christ. Women need to know who God created them to be to fulfill their God-given purpose, and the world needs more women in leadership. My goal is to help women see past the obstacles and perceived barriers by leaning on faith in Jesus Christ.

My dream is to see a world in which men and women are working together to complete one another cooperatively, collaboratively and with complete respect for each other’s unique skills and abilities, as God designed us. I would love to see a transformation in society in which women have the opportunity to be all God created them to be, and if some of them are designed to be leaders, then they should have that opportunity. This isn’t a competition. It’s time for a transformation.

I pray that all who read this book gain a new vision for what’s possible in the marketplace,