Your skills, abilities, and ideas are unique and special. So, be confident as you lead in your home, community, and job - you are supposed to be in the room. Unfortunately, some people, including leaders, don’t feel that they should be in the room or even in the position they hold, lacking the confidence to lead their people and speak up in the rooms where the conversations with their higher-ups and peers are happening. How can this be, and why does this happen? The answer is the Impostor Syndrome.
So, what is the impostor syndrome? The impostor syndrome is anxiety or self-doubt that results from persistently undervaluing one’s competence and active role in achieving success, while falsely attributing one's accomplishments to luck or other external forces. There could be many reasons a person may feel this way about their skills, abilities, and achievements. The purpose here is not to talk about those reasons, nor am I qualified to discuss the psychological factors that may contribute to this syndrome. I will talk about us, as leaders, making sure that our leadership does not contribute to or cause anyone we lead to feel like they are an impostor.
As leaders, we must remember that we influence people. Influence is not about position, so as an influencer, the people you influence can be in a higher, lower, or equivalent position or status. A student can influence a teacher. A son or daughter can influence a parent. A custodian can influence an administrator. A spouse can influence their spouse. A manager can influence a direct report, and so on. The fact is that people influence people and there must be no traces of the impostor syndrome to lead consistently with confidence. There are 5 ways you can fight against the impostor syndrome with those you are leading. These ways are: 1) Encourage; 2) Empower; 3) Coach/Mentor; 4) Share your failures; and 5) Value your people. When you do these 5 things, you can create a healthy environment where people thrive, know they are supposed to be in the room, and lead consistently with confidence.
