Imposter syndrome often affects high-achievers who despite their success, doubt their abilities and feel like a fraud. Imposter syndrome is rooted in fear and rarely related to performance. Imposter syndrome stems from a story we tell ourselves because we don’t know all the answers. It is often the undoing of leaders who give in to fear. Leading while fearful will usually bring out our worst behavior and will dismantle trust on our teams and confidence in those leading us.
And yet, every leader I talk to – including the one staring back at me in the mirror – is experiencing or has experienced imposter syndrome. How can you stop feeling like an imposter?
Yesterday in our session at the Ute Academy Leadership Program at the University of Utah, we worked on the antidote for imposter syndrome.
I coach leaders every day and it turns out that even the high achievers – the ones on the leaderboard and winning the company awards are plagued by imposter syndrome. Maybe even more because once you step up on the podium, expectations soar and the pressure to perform goes up.
You and I plus the person next to you feel insecure more than we want to admit. And when I am feeling it, I know I am at my worst as a leader. Maybe you too?
Last night, we discussed vulnerability and its role in being an authentic leader BECAUSE….what is the opposite of an imposter? It’s AUTHENTIC.
In a study released in the Leadership & Organization Development Journal, they shared, “Authentic leadership serves as the strongest single predictor of employee job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work happiness.”
Telling a personal story about yourself that is authentic and includes moments of vulnerability takes courage but it is a superpower…..BECAUSE because it reveals your humanity. The real you is immensely more important in your leadership than pretending you are the perfect leader who knows and has seen it all. Authentic is consistent and can be trusted. Imposter, not so much.
So we worked on our authentic stories – for all of 7 minutes. Five minutes to answer prompts that helped those in the course identify their story and then two minutes to share what their story will be about. No pressure. No one told their story…just what it would be about…in less than two minutes. The results from this activity were amazing because that’s what an authentic story creates…amazing results.
As we wrapped up, one student-athlete shared that when she started attending the Ute Academy Leadership Program, she saw everyone in the room as a D1 athlete. But after two minutes of hearing a person’s authentic story, she now saw them as human and wanted to give them a hug. Seven minutes….game changed.
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