Overcoming self-doubt in emerging leadership

Many people, when promoted to a new leadership position, struggle with self-doubt. If that sounds familiar, try these exercises to remind yourself why you deserve to be there.

Recognize the signs

While imposter syndrome can affect us all in certain scenarios, the feeling can be heightened following a significant career move. However, if you answer ‘yes’ to all or most of the following questions, you are experiencing an undue loss of confidence in your strengths and capabilities in your new role.

Are you encountering resistance to change among direct reports that you cannot account for?

Are you becoming excessively formal in discussions with peers and senior management?

Do you perceive a lack of support for your ideas in meetings?

Are you unsure about how to secure buy-in from above and below?

Are you avoiding contact with leading stakeholders and instead leaning towards more informal network relationships?

Treat the symptoms

The behaviors listed above inhibit the formation of new relationships, impacting your performance, and leaving you feeling isolated and unappreciated. Follow these steps to get your groove back:

Remind yourself of the strengths that you bring to a leadership role, and which make you unique.

Recall how previous promotions played out and how long it took you to settle into a new role.

Focus on outcomes: despite initial wobbles, you have consistently managed to make successful career transitions.

Identify colleagues with the potential to become allies. These are people with whom you can connect for advice and guidance.

Take the initiative by getting to know these individuals better (for example, by inviting them to lunch) and begin to forge a support network.

Once you sense that your work relationships are starting to develop and acquire depth, commit to a schedule of regular, informal, one-to-one meetings with key reports.

Be sure to notice how the resistance you first encounter is being replaced by the warmth of collaboration. This will empower you to contribute your ideas to your reports and senior leadership with greater confidence and reinforce your belief in your leadership capabilities.

Key takeaway

Promotions often take us out of our comfort zone, impacting our confidence and self-belief. The way to respond is through a combination of mental and practical steps. Remind yourself that you are there on merit, invest in deeper relationships with colleagues, and start to develop a support network as a platform to build your leadership skills.

Stephanie Comenge

Strategic Talent Solutions - Director Europe at IMD Business School, Executive Coach & Organizational Consultant

Stephanie Comenge focuses on developing leaders to harness their full potential. To achieve this goal, she leverages her deep coaching experience and knowledge drawn from qualifications from institutions such as Columbia University Teachers College, the Tavistock Institute and Loyola University, where she gained her MBA. She also utilizes a keen understanding of executive leader development based on over 20 years supporting significant shifts in leader identity, performance, and progression, capitalizing on strong cross-cultural experiences to support leaders to thrive in dynamic global environments. These strands have been brought together in her current role, leading client engagement for Strategic Talent Solutions, where Stephanie focuses on supporting organizations to build robust and adaptable talent pipelines that equip them to build Future Ready businesses.