We generally see women as less competent than men, so we tend to give them less credit for accomplishments and blame them more for mistakes. Here’s what to do.
In corporate leadership, there is a persistent myth that “results speak for themselves.” If you are a high performer who has ever been passed over for a promotion or seen a less-experienced colleague secure a high-visibility project, you know that results don’t speak; they are interpreted.
The psychological framework behind this interpretation is called Attribution Theory, and if you aren’t managing the perception of your work, you are likely falling victim to a positioning gap. Because women are often subject to Attribution Bias in the first place, be careful you aren’t sending signals to reinforce that bias.
What is Attribution Theory?
Attribution Theory, pioneered by social psychologist Fritz Heider and later refined by Bernard Weiner, explains how we attach “meaning” to the success or failure of others. In a workplace setting, your boss and peers generally attribute your wins to one of four factors:
- Ability: You succeeded because you are skilled and competent. (Internal & Stable)
- Effort: You succeeded because you worked long hours or “grinded.” (Internal & Unstable)
- Task Difficulty: The project was easy; anyone could have done it. (External & Stable)
- Luck: You were just in the right place at the right time. (External & Unstable)
The Danger of the “Effort” Trap
The most common mistake high performers make is signaling Effort when they should be signaling Ability.
When you tell your team, “I stayed up all night to get this done,” or “It was a real struggle, but we survived,” you think you are showing dedication. However, the brain of a decision-maker hears something different. They hear that your success is unstable.
If success requires 80-hour weeks and constant “struggle,” a leader will hesitate to give you more responsibility because they believe you are already at your breaking point. They attribute your win to “grind” (Effort) rather than “systemic expertise” (Ability).
Here’s where Attribution Bias comes into play. Because we generally see women as less competent than men (sigh), we tend to give them less credit for accomplishments and blame them more for mistakes. Be careful you aren’t confirming that bias with your own language.
How to Close the Positioning Gap with Leadership Linguistics
To move your reputation from “Hard Worker” to “High-Ability Leader,” you must carefully choose the language you use after a win.
Own the Outcome, Not the Overtime – Instead of highlighting how much energy you spent, highlight the precision of your process.
- Low Authority: “We finally finished, though it took a lot of late nights!”
- High Authority: “The strategy we implemented functioned exactly as anticipated, delivering the projected ROI.”
Minimize “Luck” Language – While it feels humble to credit “good timing” or “luck,” it creates an external attribution. If luck got you here, you can’t be trusted to get there again.
- Low Authority: “We got lucky that the client liked the proposal.”
- High Authority: “We tailored the proposal to address the client’s specific pain points, which secured the buy-in.”
Shift from “I” to “My System” – Ability is seen as “Stable” when it is tied to a repeatable framework. Use language that suggests your results are a product of your methodology.
- Strategic Signal: “Based on our data-driven approach, we were able to identify the bottleneck before it impacted the deadline.”
Perception is a Variable You Can Control
As a marketing strategist, I know good communication is a brand asset. Just as a luxury brand never shows you the “messy” factory floor, a leader doesn’t lead with the “messy” effort behind their success. Even if you did stay up all night, don’t show them what’s in the sausage.
By understanding Attribution Bias, you can ensure that when you deliver results, your organization attributes them to your ability. This doesn’t just get you credit for the work you’ve already done. It positions you as the obvious choice for the work you want to do next.
[Free Tool] The Common Bias Chart
Biases in the workplace aren’t just something to “watch out for.” They are signals you need to decode in real-time so you can be aware when they are happening to you or if, like in this case, you are doing them to yourself. I’ve developed the Common Biases Women Face At Work chart to help you filter the feedback you receive during performance reviews and informal “advice” sessions.
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