How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome and Lead a Learning Culture: A Growth Mindset
How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome and Lead a Learning Culture: A Growth Mindset
If you have ever felt like you were not good enough or were a fraud, then you probably experienced Imposter Syndrome. This feeling is familiar among high-achievers and can be tough to overcome. However, in reality, every learner is an “imposter” walking into a new realm of knowledge and experience. To jump out of imposter syndrome means you must take on a new growth mindset and share your learning journey with others. This article will help you identify how imposter syndrome lurks in an organization’s shadows. We will also explore how to instill a learning culture in your team so everyone can share their mistakes and failures openly. Doing so will help every group produce better-performing individuals and teams.
You may be experiencing imposter syndrome if:
- You feel like you are not good enough.
- You hide making mistakes.
- You downplay your successes.
- You second-guess yourself often.
- You ask yourself, “What would they think if they knew about…?”
What is imposter syndrome?
Imposter syndrome is a feeling of being a fraud. This feeling is pervasive among leaders because the pressures of leading a team are overwhelming. There are demands to stay on top of new knowledge, unlimited data, and work on the most challenging problems in an organization.
Harvard psychologist Robert Kegan Explores this in The Evolving Self and its follow-up In Over our Heads. They are weighty books, so let’s reduce them to two points.
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Even after childhood, we never stop developing and growing – it is perilous to stop learning. But, unfortunately, people do it all the time and get comfortable.
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Navigating new problems is not straightforward in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. Old solutions are not transferrable and often create the mess we are dealing with at the moment.
So if you feel like you and others on your team are dealing with imposter syndrome – you are not alone. We are all in over our heads and learning.
The 21st century’s technological progress, productivity solutions and high demands create an expectation to perform in a superhuman way. Believing that you have to be better than others fosters imposter syndrome. (Side note – nobody like being around someone who thinks they are better than them anyways!)
So here is the open secret – nobody is superhuman, and nobody really expects you to be either! We are all working outside our comfort zone and on new learning. Everyone who takes on responsibility will be working outside of their comfort zone. Imposter Syndrome isn’t real! It is a fixed mindset trying to hide growth and learning by pretending you don’t make mistakes and have all the answers. And if you feel that way, probably everyone on your team also deals with it. Somebody has to shine a light on all that anxiety that lurks as negative thoughts in our minds.
People grow best where they continuously experience an ingenious blend of support and challenge.” – Robert Kegan, In Over Our Heads p. 42.
How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome
Here is the good news. Imposter Syndrome is straightforward to overcome – but it takes courage.
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Frame your current experience as an experiment and learning lab.
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Share with your team what you are learning and experimenting with.
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Create a collaborative environment where colleagues offer feedback.
By being transparent with your team and instilling a growth mindset, you are functioning as a leader who creates psychologically safe and brave spaces. Team learning is magnified when teammates can learn from others’ mistakes. Here is the choice. You can have Imposter Syndrome, or you can trade it for a Growth Mindset.
What are some ways to transition to a growth mindset?
- Acknowledge that you have imposter syndrome.
- Understand that everyone experiences imposter syndrome.
- Embrace your mistakes and failures.
- Share your mistakes and successes with others.
- Focus on learning and growth, not perfection.
- Create a learning culture
How can you instill a learning culture in your team?
- Share your mistakes and then encourage everyone to share theirs openly.
- Celebrate successes together.
- Focus on production and then debrief:
1. What went well?2. What was learned?
3. What will you do next time?
- Provide opportunities for everyone to learn and grow.
- Be a role model of lifelong learning.
What are some benefits of instilling a learning culture in your team?
- Everyone becomes better-performing individuals.
- People pursue personal mastery instead of perfection.
- Teams become better performing.
- Mistakes are expected and accepted.
- Failure is no longer taboo as long as it provides learning.
- People are accepted, creating a safe and open environment.
- Successes are celebrated together.
- Lifelong learning is promoted.
Imposter syndrome doesn’t have to hold you back anymore! It is gone as soon as you admit it and courageously share how you feel! You can also lead by example and instill a learning culture in your team so others aren’t emotionally drained from carrying the weight of performing perfectly. Doing so has many benefits and will help produce a culture for better-performing individuals and teams.
Did this article help you understand Imposter Syndrome and how to overcome it? Do you have any tips to share with others who may be struggling with Imposter Syndrome? We would love to hear from you.
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