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.
Application:
- Encourage: Be specific in your encouragement. For example, you might say, "Hello Suzie, I like how you led your team and collaboratively came up with the decision and produced an excellent outcome." Encouraging our direct reports by letting them know we notice what they are doing through intentional and specific feedback can fight against the impostor syndrome.
- Empower: Giving people the freedom and flexibility to do their jobs without the fear of being reprimanded because of making a mistake can empower them to lead confidently and can reduce the anxiety they may have about making mistakes. Giving people the space and autonomy to complete a task, develop an initiative, lead a team, etc., while providing them with the resources and support they need can help fight against the impostor syndrome.
- Coach/Mentor: Spend time with your people. Designate some time to help strengthen and develop the skills, abilities, and knowledge of those you lead. As leaders, we should be intentional about helping our people grow. John Maxwell says his life goal is to "add value to people." My goal is to help people become who they were created to be. Leaders who coach and mentor to add value or to help someone become who they were created to be are fighting against the impostor syndrome.
- Share Your Failures (Be Transparent): Assumptions could be made by those looking up to you that your success came easily. Even if they know the road to success is bumpy and rocky, people may assume that your bumps were not as bad as theirs because of the position you hold. Sharing your story, imperfections, and failures could help someone who might feel inadequate because of mistakes, or even lessen their fear of making mistakes. Being transparent about your journey can help fight against the impostor syndrome.
- Value Your People: When we notice what our people are doing and are intentional and specific in our encouragement, it also lets them know they are valued and their work is appreciated. When leaders value people, they can make a new, inexperienced person feel like they matter and instill confidence in them just by listening to their ideas and allowing their ideas to be part of the discussion. Asking them questions, checking on them to see how they are doing, listening to their idea, and inviting them to be part of the conversation can fight against the impostor syndrome.
Conclusion:
As leaders, we must be careful not to create an environment where the impostor syndrome can exist. We must encourage, empower, coach/mentor, share our failures, and value our people. When we do these things, we fight against the impostor syndrome. I invite you to join me in the fight against the impostor syndrome by being a leader who chooses to do these five things. If you decide to do more than these 5 things, then great. But, I implore you to avoid contributing to the impostor syndrome. Lead well, so that others may lead with confidence.
Additional Comments:
I want to hear from you. Please post your comments and suggestions in the comments section on this page. Thank you for reading or listening to this blog post. Stay tuned for the next blog, scheduled to be posted on Monday, June 2, 2025.
4 comments:
Interesting! Agree, specific, intentional feedback is key. Lead by example has always been my motto. In life, the classroom as a mom. Rolling up my sleeves, getting my hands dirty, builds confidence and trust.
Great Insights, and I like the Impostor Syndrome Title. So very important to Empower, Value, and Encourage those, Especially when we are in Supervisory, Management and Executive positions, Yet also vitally important when in a Church Fellowship setting, whereas We are primarily Serving others!
Great insight! As an educator, this made me think about our young scholars. Specifically, the students that have test scores that indicate they aren’t performing at grade level. I feel that they deal with imposter syndrome daily. As an educator what are things that we can do to provide that sense of belonging?
I so appreciate this; it helps explain when I've felt better and like less of an imposter with some supervisors than others. I have believed in doing these 5 things when I am leading, but have never had the perspective of doing them to help prevent imposter syndrome in those I lead. Helping people feel like they belong in the role in which they're serving is a great thing to be conscious of. Thank you!
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