Managers are in an important position to help employees who may be wrestling with imposter syndrome. In this piece, the authors outline four steps managers can take: 1) Look for red flags. Know the windows of vulnerability when these feelings will most likely be present, and look for unsustainable work habits that usually result in burnout. 2) Frame performance, growth, and development in more objective terms rather than by competitive rank and status. Performance feedback, both formal and informal, can be excellent opportunities to dispel uncertainties about expectations and misnomers about the employee’s “standing” in the organization. 3) Assign mentors wisely. If you’re pairing one of your employees with a mentor, consider individuals outside of the team, who understand the context but have no evaluative relationship with the employee. 4) Share your own professional insecurities. Research shows that leaders who are humble and open in this way build the self-efficacy of their followers.
Giving employees confidence, reassurance, and support can be a challenging task for any manager, especially when employees may falsely perceive that they’re underqualified, lack necessary skills, or simply lucked out getting an assignment or promotion. Given the prevalence of imposter feelings, you’re likely managing people who feel this way.
For example, Mary (not her real name) was a talented professional working for a major corporation. She was hired out of college into a role that was somewhat related to her degree and was surrounded by colleagues who had graduated from more prestigious universities with degrees more directly related to their work. She worked her way up in her division, receiving stellar evaluations from her superiors and peers. Yet in her mind, she was in way over her head and her colleagues were much more knowledgeable. She was terrified that someone would find out how little she truly knew. This became even worse when she was promoted to manage her division.
Mary would stay up late at night reading leadership articles and technical handbooks to ensure she would always appear knowledgeable in meetings. Though she continued to receive stellar evaluations from her superiors and subordinates, this fear of being discovered as a fraud continually gnawed at her psyche. In short, she felt like an imposter.
One day she confided in her manager how “out of place” she felt. Her manager was shocked because everything appeared to be going so well, and she worried that Mary was unhappy and that they were at risk of losing her. Her manager helped to facilitate a horizontal change in her assignment within the organization, but the change didn’t help her imposter feelings. In fact, it only made things worse. Mary ultimately left the organization despite being a top performer and a beloved colleague.
Could her manager have done anything to prevent her from leaving? Not likely. By the time Mary shared how she was feeling, it was too late. Her insecurities were so internalized that there was little her manager could do to alleviate her concerns. That’s why it’s so important to be proactive. For the last six years, we have been researching and teaching about the imposter phenomenon, and we’ve identified four tactics managers can use to reduce imposter feelings on their team.
Watch for red flags.
Chances are your employees aren’t sharing their imposter feelings with you, so you need to know what behaviors to look out for. Unsustainable work habits, such as constantly working long hours, can be a telltale sign. Inviting a conversation about whether the employee is being ambitious or compensating for imposter feelings can be transformative.
Also be aware of disengaging work habits, such as withdrawal from a social group, hesitancy to ask questions or speak up, or persistent excuses for falling behind on deadlines. These can all be signs that someone is trying to hide their insecurities. Initiating dialogue with employees early on can prevent the seeds of self-doubt from growing.
Frame performance, growth, and development in objective terms.
Imposter feelings are deeply connected to the way individuals see themselves and the way they compare themselves to others. Perceived imposters often view themselves as severely lacking but “everyone else” as competent. People with imposter feelings do not fear opportunities and challenging work assignments; however, they may tend to measure their success by making comparisons to an unrealistic or skewed measuring stick.
Managers can combat this comparative inclination by framing performance, growth, and development in more objective terms rather than by competitive rank and status. Performance feedback, both formal and informal, is an excellent opportunity to dispel uncertainties about the employee’s “standing” in the organization.
We all know the adage, “Fake it till you make it.” You may have even offered it as advice to someone who was feeling insecure. The problem with this advice is that it reminds imposters that they are in fact “faking it.” It’s important to help employees understand, “You’ve made it, you don’t need to fake it.” Help them internalize successes and understand that learning and mistakes are expected as part of their growth and development.
Assign mentors wisely.
We’ve found that mentorship can be helpful in combatting imposter feelings. But not all mentors have the same effect — and some can even make things worse. People with imposter feelings often worry about how their team members perceive them, so mixing evaluation and mentorship can be especially damaging. If you’re pairing one of your employees with a mentor, consider individuals outside of your team, who understand the context but have no evaluative relationship with the employee. This will take the pressure off of the relationship.
Share your own professional insecurities.
When we ask people if they share their imposter feelings with team members or leaders, the response, with few exceptions, is an emphatic “No!” However, when we ask people how they would coach someone else with imposter feelings, they often say they would share their experiences and help normalize what they’re experiencing. This presents a sharing paradox: People benefit from hearing about others’ imposter feelings, but people experiencing imposter feelings are hesitant to share their struggles.
You can combat this by normalizing imposter feelings on your team. Share some of your own professional insecurities and failures, particularly those failures that you overcame in a meaningful way. As Gia Storms writes in her HBR article, “Stories of failure help us relate, normalize setbacks, and create intimacy. When they end with a lesson in resiliency, they galvanize audiences to keep going.”
In sum, we believe managers are in an important position to help (or harm!) employees who may be wrestling with imposter feelings. Though imposter feelings can be hard to detect, by applying some of these tactics, we believe managers can mitigate imposter feelings on their team and boost their employees’ confidence.