The Problem
“How would you know anything about leadership training when you did not reach the highest rank in the United States Marine Corps?” This statement jumps into my head anytime I am on LinkedIn, thinking through my next article. My perceived intelligence of the LinkedIn audience has me convinced that there are more talented people than myself who could serve growing leaders better. I have high ranking military connections who led large organizations through combat; how could I think I belong in their arena? Then there are my newer connections with corporate executives who are leading great teams of people in these uncertain times; what would I know about what a company needs during all this chaos? Everyone on here seems to be more suited to talk about leadership than me.
These thoughts invade my head anytime I work on my goals to be an influencer in the leadership development area. How do I get past my own thinking to make a difference in the world? What experiences do I have that differentiate me from the other leadership consultants?
The Mindset
During my time in the Marine Corps, I resisted the ideas of military philosophers. I wanted to learn from the achiever; not those who just wrote about them. This was the way I learned and observed leadership; from those that were out front doing it.
It was not until I sat through my first MBA class, Organizational Behavior, where my view changed significantly. I met a team of professors in the Management Department who showed me how their studies are observations backed with science. By using these studies in business consulting, they help contribute to the success of a leader’s development. Those professors informed me that not all people have the time to reflect and teach while still in the moment. It takes the observer’s viewpoint to put into words and context that will teach the future leaders.
This growth in understanding reinforced my passion to teach others what I have learned. So how do I get over my imposter syndrome?
First, I have to remind myself that I was a successful leader. The men and women who I worked with gave me the title of leader; it did not come from the organization. I still keep in contact with many people who talk to me of those days where they followed my lead. They tell stories of the challenges our team overcame to be successful and how we broke through barriers to produce results that exceeded expectations.
Second, I am taking the time to combine my experiences and the experiences of others to pass along the lessons we learned through sweat and blood. Being a part of an aircrew team in the heat of the action while dealing with the chaos and the unknown are what growing leaders want to learn from. These leaders yearn for the lessons about making decisions that have immediate consequences so they are prepared when it is their turn.
Third, I talk about success as a result of the leadership team. I did not come up with a revolutionary plan to lead my teams to success. It was the leadership team that planned and accomplished the goals to succeed in an adversarial climate.
Overall, I talk in terms of what I have learned from my failures. My inability to promote further in rank in the Marine Corps was not due to my leadership, it was my inability to communicate confidence to the senior ranks. Getting promoted to those upper ranks requires the ability to provide confidence to the manager who writes the evaluations. Overconfidence was also a failure of mine. When I was comfortable explaining subjects to my bosses, it came across as arrogant. My overconfidence made me appear not to be receptive to constructive tips. This destroyed many potential mentorship opportunities which I would have benefitted from. My self-reliant stance pushed away the necessary feedback which could have taught me about my inability to provide confidence to those who reviewed me.
However, I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to sit down with some generous people who provided me insights into their leadership lessons. It would be selfish of me not to incorporate these lessons which can benefit future leaders and leadership teams into my speaking and writing.
The past two years have given me an opportunity to reflect on all of my leadership experiences. The Executive MBA program taught me how to translate what I previously learned about leadership into the business world. The fellowship with executive leaders in my cohort enabled me to explore the ideas which can benefit others. I continue to collaborate with like-minded people in exploring ideas I bring to my leadership consulting.
My Advice to Others
The imposter syndrome is a common phenomenon. I believe it is due to being isolated in our imagination as we evaluate our audience. LinkedIn, by nature, is where we showcase our best professional behavior. This can be intimidating to people. It is easy to think everyone else is more qualified than you. Overcoming imposter syndrome involves sharing with each other that we are not alone. By finding this commonality, we find camaraderie within the group, which strengthens us all.
Changing a mindset is like changing a habit. It can take 65-90 days of habitual practice to change one aspect of the current mindset. After a while the series of changes, one after the other, will create a mindset shift.
Conclusion
I have found that revealing your vulnerabilities to others is not an easy process. Neither is working through the imposter syndrome. Identifying what is true and what is made up in our minds will require us to do some deep reflecting about why we feel this way. Understanding our situation also requires asking some tough questions. I do not like looking at my ugly side, but I have grown into a better person because of my exploration into it.
I did not come up with the answers on my own; it took the patience of those people who were willing to go through the process with me. For their efforts, I am truly thankful. The best I feel anyone can do to overcome the imposter syndrome is to work with people around them. The people closest to us understand what has occurred in our stories. Their perspectives help us see past the imaginary walls of judgment. Let the collaboration of friends and family set you free to take on what you believe you were meant to do.
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