You’ve worked hard for years to get to this point. Whether through exceptional performance, navigating office politics, or simply being in the right place at the right time, you’ve finally landed a leadership role. This should be cause for celebration and excitement to take the next step in your career journey.
However, instead of feeling capable and confident, you feel plagued by self-doubt, overwhelmed by expectations, and worried that you’re undeserving of your new title. What gives? Chances are, you’re experiencing a case of imposter syndrome as a new leader.
Understanding Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome describes the prevalent experience of feeling like an inadequate fraud despite evidence of competence and capability. While not an officially classified psychological disorder, imposter syndrome is estimated to impact a striking 70% of the population at some point in their lives.
The phenomenon often arises when starting a new, challenging role. Though externally you may exude confidence, internally there is a persistent, nagging fear that you are undeserving of your success and others have an inflated perception of your skills or qualifications. This creates intense psychological distress, anxiety about being exposed, and difficulty internalizing accomplishments.
Common Causes in Leadership Roles
While imposter syndrome can strike anyone, rapidly ascending into leadership comes with particular pressures that exacerbate feelings of inadequacy:
1. Lack of Preparation
Oftentimes new leaders take the reins with little formal training, mentorship, or transition periods to smoothly grow into the role. Being thrust into significant responsibility without preparation can severely undermine confidence.
2. Uncertainty and Self-Doubt
Many qualified candidates continually question if they have what it takes or are truly the right person to lead. This is further compounded by the lack of measurable benchmarks and definitive answers that come with overseeing strategy and people.
3. Perfectionism
Effective leaders must be comfortable with uncertainty and imperfection. However, for ambitious overachievers, anything short of perfect triggers harsh self-criticism.
4. Playing Catch-Up
When emerging into management from an individual contributor role, it’s common to suddenly be at a knowledge deficit compared to reports. This can create insecurity about credibility.
Impact on Leadership Capabilities
Left unchecked, imposter syndrome can be severely debilitating, undermining effective leadership. New leaders may avoid opportunities, shy away from challenges, overprepare, or micromanage due to lack of confidence. Long term, intense feelings of fraudulence lead to burnout, turnover, and missed career trajectory.
However, rest assured imposter syndrome is manageable with self-awareness and intentional effort to reframe thought patterns. You deserve to feel capable, empowered, and fulfilled as a leader. Here are actionable steps to begin overcoming self-doubt:
Strategies to Overcome Imposter Syndrome
1. Own Your Experience
Take stock of your tangible achievements, unique skill sets, and the perspective you bring to leadership. Recognize that you earned this opportunity. When self-doubt creeps in, combat it with examples of your capabilities.
2. Talk It Out
Voice feelings of inadequacy to a trusted mentor or peer. Speaking fears aloud helps release their control and gain reassurance that even the most confident leaders grapple with self-doubt.
3. Adopt a Growth Mindset
Rather than focusing on avoiding failure or proving competence, continually seek opportunities for growth. Experimentation and missteps are part of the learning process as you step into greater leadership capacity.
4. Manage Perfectionism
Striving for excellence is admirable, but resist holding yourself to unrealistic standards of perfection. Expect to make mistakes, readjust, and continue making progress. Good enough is okay too!
5. Fake It Till You Make It
Even if you have to “act as if” initially, boldly take on leadership activities before feeling 100% qualified. Increased exposure builds genuine competence and confidence over time.
Transitioning from individual contributor to leader comes with an intense psychological adjustment. Imposter syndrome manifests because leadership necessitates embracing vulnerability, uncertainty, and growth. Yet self-doubt, however loud, does not indicate inability or inadequacy. Trust that with diligence and courage, you can move positively into your new role, learn as you go, and lead authentically.
Image credit: Pexels.com
