How to Help Your Team Overcome Imposter Syndrome. Strategies that Work!
My dear leader! Imposter syndrome at the workplace is a common challenge! It affects employees regardless of their levels of experience and achievement. If not recognised, this powerful phenomenon can considerably affect the well-being of your staff and the productivity of your whole team.
Firstly, let’s define imposter syndrome. It is a psychological pattern in which a person doubts their accomplishments, constantly fearing that they will be exposed as a “fraud”. This is despite evidence of their success.
Does it sound familiar? You might have experienced imposter syndrome yourself. This phenomenon is most common when starting a new job, receiving a promotion, or when speaking in public.
If you would like to find out more about imposter syndrome, including its definition and key facts, check out our post: Unmasking Imposter Syndrome: How to Recognize and Combat Self-Doubt
Imposter syndrome often leads to negative thoughts, anxiety, and stress. It may cause a person to feel unworthy of their position, afraid to take on new tasks for fear of failing or making mistakes.
Moreover, this negative self-perception can lead to low self-esteem, and your employee may struggle to accept their own success and achievements. This, in turn, may affect both their personal and professional life.
To find out how imposter syndrome manifests in the workplace, check out our writing: Imposter Syndrome at Work: 21 Tips How to Combat Self-Doubt.
As a team leader and manager, you need to understand how to help your employees overcome these daunting feelings. This will help you build a more confident, engaged, and efficient workforce.
This comprehensive guide offers helpful strategies and insights on how to overcome imposter syndrome within your team.
Master the Art of Supportive Leadership
As a people manager, you need to focus on creating a work environment rooted in trust and open dialogue. By doing this, you’ll contribute to addressing your team’s emotional and professional needs.
Your practical, empathy-driven support will inspire and empower your people to reach their full potential.
These supportive leadership practices will help you lead with empathy.
Examine Your Own Beliefs about Your Employees
Firstly, accept that your beliefs may unintentionally contribute to your employees’ imposter syndrome symptoms. Then, take a moment to reflect on your beliefs about your team.
Secondly, recognize that each person has a unique potential and meet them with empathy. Acknowledge their achievements and provide them with the necessary resources and support to excel.
This caring attitude can foster the deepest connections and help to create a work environment where everyone feels valued and grows.
Foster a Sense of Belonging – Help Them Build a Support Network
A strong support network may help to combat imposter syndrome. When you encourage connections within the team, you will foster an environment where it’s safe to ask for help. You can do it by:
Ensuring regular team meetings,
Organising social events,
Providing space for chats and gatherings (i.e. comfortable break time room, online chat channels, etc.)
What’s most important is to ensure everyone knows about this opportunity to build networks. This will help promote inclusion and make everyone feel valued.
Unleash The Power of Peer Support
Another fantastic way to battle the imposter phenomenon within your team is to create an environment where they feel comfortable talking about their feelings of inadequacy.
In short, enabling peer support groups and work buddies is the first step. This will provide your team with a less formal space to share their experiences and strategies for overcoming imposter syndrome.
Knowing that others face the same challenges can be immensely reassuring. It will also help reduce the stigma of expressing vulnerability within the workplace. In turn, it will help with building a self-driven and effective workforce.
Put Power in Their Hands
Learn the skill of delegation and encourage your team members to take the lead on tasks or projects. It’ll help them to enhance their skills and build on their experience. Moreover, it will also reinforce their sense of capability and competence.
Foster Self-Awareness and The Courage to Ask for Help
As a leader, help your team members to acknowledge their feelings and thoughts associated with imposter syndrome. Once they identify these patterns, they will be more able to actively work towards changing them.
Furthermore, normalize asking for help. This will help to build a supportive atmosphere where vulnerability is seen as courage, not weakness. By doing so, you will encourage open dialogue about self-doubt, demystifying the unrealistic expectations of perfection.
Beyond ‘Good Job’: Use The Power of Tailored Positive Affirmations
One of the common symptoms when experiencing imposter syndrome is negative self-talk and thoughts. Using affirmations is a very useful way of helping reframe these negative cognitive patterns. Remind your team members what they are good at. Encourage them to come up with positive affirmations that are specifically tailored to their strengths as well as vulnerabilities. Remind your team to use these positive affirmations when they feel their confidence is dropping.
Normalize Struggles and Coach Towards Success
By all means, let your team members know that the imposter phenomenon is a common experience. Moreover, encourage them to share their feelings with you. Then, provide them with strategies to deal with it to reduce the intensity of these feelings over time.
Such open dialogue will help you normalize the experience of imposter syndrome and, what is very important, make it less isolating.
Embrace and Model Vulnerability
Leadership is about setting an example. By showing your own vulnerabilities and admitting when you don’t have all the answers, you can make it easier for others to accept their imperfections.
Moreover, speak openly about your own experiences of feeling like an imposter. This demonstrates that feeling this way does not equate to a lack of competence or success.
Inspire Continuous Development for Success
As I explained before, imposter syndrome can challenge one’s self-confidence. However, as a leader, you’re in a unique position to help your team overcome this. You can provide the necessary training, resources, and opportunities for development. By doing so, you can help your employees flourish in their roles and feel confident in their abilities.
From Uncertainty to Assurance: Help Them Identify Confidence Gaps
Speak to your team members about their confidence gaps. Through open conversation, you can help increase their understanding of these gaps. Moreover, it may help them gain perspective and start believing in their abilities. There are several tools you could use to structure the conversation. For example, you could use a SWAT analysis tool to help them remember their past successes, unique skills and previous positive feedback.
By doing so, you can support them in shifting from viewing themselves as ‘imposters’ to being ‘learners’. What’s more, you will help your team members pave the way to their personalized development path.
Maximizing Potential: Comprehensive Training and Resource Toolkit
Without a doubt, ongoing training can help employees develop the necessary skills and confidence to succeed at their jobs and careers. Whether it’s an industry-specific course or soft skills training, continued learning helps team members feel competent and confident.
Sometimes, the fear of being exposed stems from a genuine need for additional knowledge or skills. Therfore, provide access to training and resources that can help your team members feel more capable and less anxious. Ensure that they know where they can find information or whom they can ask for help. This could be through formal education, mentorship programs, or simply offering time for self-directed learning.
Always Promote a Growth Mindset
Having a growth mindset means believing that your capabilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication, hard work, and resilience. Such a mindset embraces challenges, persists through setbacks, and values effort as a path to mastery.
As a leader, you can contribute to developing a growth mindset within your team. To do so, promote a culture that values effort, learning, and persistence over natural talent or perfection.
Particularly, encourage your team to view challenges as opportunities to develop their skills. Help them to understand that failure is a part of the learning process and not a reflection of their worth or abilities.
Nurture and Nourish Their Career Growth Aspirations
As a leader, you can actively help your employees deal with imposter syndrome. Be a catalyst for the pursuit of their career interests. By doing so, you may inspire their new insights and help dispel any feelings of being a ‘fraud’.
Firstly, nurture (care for and protect) your team’s career growth and aspirations. Do it by fostering a supportive environment that encourages progress. Your consistent recognition and celebration of your team’s growth will strengthen their belief in their self-efficacy and will empower them.
Secondly, nourish their continuous development. Acknowledge their achievements and help them set tangible development goals. As much as possible, offer further training and development opportunities. This will motivate them to take on new challenges. It might also bolster their confidence and quiet their inner critic.
Individual Coaching and Support
You may also consider providing support through mentoring or coaching. This may be especially helpful for those team members who struggle more significantly. A career coach or therapist specializing in imposter syndrome could provide personalized strategies to manage and overcome these feelings.
Ensure that when introducing this option, you focus on the benefits of this approach to your team members. This will help them to see it as a developmental opportunity that would lead them to reach their full potential at work.
Drive Success with Crystal Clear Management
Establish Clear Expectations Early On
Ensure that your team members understand their tasks and responsibilities. When they know what’s expected of them, they’ll feel more confident and empowered to perform.
Set Realistic Expectations
Even genuine achievements may feel inadequate when the bar is set so high. Therefore, unrealistic expectations, either from the individuals themselves or the organization, can exacerbate your employee’s imposter syndrome.
As a leader, ensure that the goals and expectations you set are challenging but achievable. Remind your team that perfection is a myth. Ensure them it is not an expectation. However, growth, effort, and learning are always welcome under your command.
Regularly Share Feedback: Highlight Successes and Facilitate Improvement
Regular positive and constructive feedback will help your team understand where they stand. You must explicitly tell them what they’re doing right. This way, high achievers will be more able to accept praise without attributing their success to external factors.
Equally important, when you offer constructive criticism, you help your team members see areas of improvement as opportunities to learn. Ensure you frame your feedback in a way that emphasizes their capability and growth, and not just the outcome.
Stay Connected: Schedule Engaging Catch-Ups and Insightful Temperature Checks
Regular catch-ups and temperature checks will help you keep a pulse on your team’s mental health. By doing so, you will ensure that imposter syndrome doesn’t affect their performance or well-being.
Remember, imposter syndrome is just a matter of perspective. Create a culture of celebrating successes, no matter how small. It’s on you as a successful leader to help your team members change that perspective.
Things You Need to Remember
Navigating the complexities of imposter syndrome is not a small challenge. However, as a leader, you have a unique opportunity to create an environment where each team member feels recognized and supported. A workplace where open dialogue and trust are embedded in your team’s culture.
You are in a position where you can encourage a sense of community within your team. You can also offer an environment where seeking help is a sign of courage and continuous growth is celebrated.
Remember, clarity and regular feedback are the compasses that will guide your team to success. By setting clear and attainable goals, you give your team the confidence to strive forward.
Your regular check-ins are invaluable; they will reassure your team that they are heard, seen, and valued. This is crucial to dispelling the shadow of doubt cast by imposter syndrome.
You’re not just leading a team; you’re nurturing a garden of diverse talents, each with its unique contributions, collectively pushing towards a shared vision of success. Your role in this process is indeed pivotal. What’s more, your kind, supportive approach is the key to fostering a thriving team.
Happy Leading!
