When people consider what it takes to become a successful person, the first thing that comes to mind is confidence. After all, a person who believes in themselves is capable of jumping into projects, taking calculated risks, and most importantly, inspiring others to follow them. For as long as people have contemplated the power of high self-confidence, people have also been contemplating the potential pitfalls high self-confidence.

In 2012, the Harvard Business Review published an article and concluded that ultimately, less confident people are more successful than self-confident people. That same year, they published another article, again with the same conclusion that having self-confidence is not related to success. This might explain why Asian-Americans, who are reported to have among the lowest levels of self-esteem, tend to be such high achievers. However, while it may be true that having lower levels of self-esteem might result in more self-critical, hard-working employees, self-confidence is key to becoming a leader. In fact, there is a style of leadership, charismatic leadership, which focuses on a person’s ability to inspire others around them.

Here are 5 reasons why self-confidence is the key to good leadership.