Episode #329: The Leader Imposter Syndrome

In any field the people at the top can be plagued with self-doubt. It is especially prominent in the artistic world where creativity is so important. Am I creative enough, original enough, talented enough? It happens in sports too. The top players worry if they are past it, can they get out of this performance slump? Will they be replaced by cheaper, younger teammates? So it is no surprise that this crops up in business too.

The leader has a couple of key jobs. One is setting the direction and vision forward. What if they get this wrong, if the troops don’t support it, or if it proves to be their folly? They have to run the processes. This is not too taxing, because most companies processes have been well refined. All it takes is to be well organised, to make sure everything that is happening is at the quality, speed and cost level required. The other tricky component is building the people. How hard can that be? It sounds simple enough but is it?

The boss has to make the decisions and often with imperfect information. We rely on others for the insights, as often they are closer to the issue than we are. If we have a lot of people around us, just like us, we may lack for diversity of view or opinion, and we can get into groupthink. Are we getting the correct information, can we trust it and can we get it in a timely manner?

I was in a staff meeting and we were looking at a column of numbers. I am not much of a numbers guy, but I felt there was something about a particular number which looked odd. The rest of the team swore black and blue the number was correct. I am rather stubborn, so I continued to challenge it. And it proved to be incorrect. Fine, bully for me the boss, but were there other occasions where I was making decisions and the number was incorrect, but nobody picked it up, including me? Do I really know what I am doing, setting the course for the company? Am I making the right resource allocations? Am I taking the actions, at the right times? Do the team still believe in me?

Before we were the leader, we were snuggly ensconced in our comfort zone, doing our role very well. We knew how to do it and how to produce results. We had a lot of experience and expertise in our area and were competent. Now we have to lead others, who depressingly, are nothing like us. Some of them think they should have gotten our job and are doubtful about our abilities to perform in this role. The senior executives are all putting pressure on us to get results and now. Dealing with people is a pain and one of the less attractive aspects of the work. Am I really a people person enough to be able to generate loyalty in others. Am I a good enough communicator to inspire others to become the best they can be?

Am I a fraud?

It is very easy to talk ourselves out of our potential and abilities, when all we do is focus on our inadequacies, failings, foibles and fears. There was a book published back in 1969 called “The Peter Principle” by Dr. Laurence J Peter and Raymond Hull , which stated that people rise in a hierarchy to their level of incompetence. The corollary is that senior posts are occupied by people who are incompetent to carry out their duties and will be removed once this fact becomes known. We begin to think that is our situation and are worried we are imposters awaiting execution upon discovery.

For these reasons we need to be constantly working on ourselves. We need to be constantly reading, listening to books and podcasts, going to conferences, joining study groups, attending events, doing courses, studying success models and mixing with the super successful. If we are not pushing ourselves hard to learn, we will be run over by the endless drive of progress.

We also need to be involving our people in decision-making. The idea, in this century, that the boss is the font of all wisdom is laughable. The internet has put that concept to the sword. That means we must become skillful in delegation. Becoming a great coach of others is how we rise in organisations. Personal skills will only take us so far. A builder of champions is a valuable resource in every organisation and all organisations are screaming out for competent leaders. If we are busy working on ourselves and working on our business rather than just working in our business, we can keep one step ahead of falling victim to the leader imposter syndrome.