6 Vital Soft Skills to Overcome “Imposter Syndrome” And Move Into Leadership
Have you ever started to give a presentation to a client, give a speech to your industry peers, or give initial thoughts to your team, and suddenly the little voice in your head says, “Who do you think you are? As soon as you open your mouth, the secret is out, and people will no longer wonder if you are smart.” If this has ever happened to you, you are by no means alone. You are suffering from Imposter Syndrome.
In a 2018 Blind survey, 58% of technology sector employees reported experiencing Imposter Syndrome. Both men and women suffer from this syndrome, and it exists across all industries. People who experience Imposter Syndrome believe they don’t deserve the success they have, and this causes them to dismiss their accomplishments to luck, timing, and more.
Although a fascinating topic in itself, the more significant issue is that Imposter Syndrome contributes to a tendency to focus your entire career development on the “how” of doing your job, so no one believes you are an imposter. For example, if you are an architect, you may focus on how to produce more creative designs and better drawings. The problem rests in your singular focus of excelling at what your industry produces rather than devoting at least an equal amount of time working on the management and leadership of how your business operates. I call this belief (to get ahead in your career, you must continually become a better (fill in the blank – recreation supervisor, architect, accountant, village manager, politician) “technical syndrome.”
Individuals newer to their field often want to spend every waking hour soaking up information directly related to their job and believe that is how they will advance. They may. However, they may not.
If the organization needs a more senior architect, then perhaps the junior architect taking specification writing classes and reading design related books may get her job advancement. However, organizations are more often looking for individuals who can not only manage themselves but can also manage others and the firm. In other words, they are looking for leaders; and leaders need to build skills that are rarely taught in college or actively on the job. These skills are called soft skills.
6 soft skills that have the most significant influence on advancing your career are:
1. Communication
This includes written and oral communication as well as public speaking. If you are brilliant, but all your knowledge lives only in your brain, you won’t advance as far in your career as the individual who can clearly, concisely and convincingly articulate his point of view.
2. Team Building
Do you know how to take a group of individuals and form them into a high functioning team? People who have this soft skill are typically the first to become managers and eventually leaders. The ability to build a cohesive team includes other soft skills like mentoring and providing constructive feedback. A team leader needs to be able to lead herself, her peers and her clients, who are typically also part of the organization’s “team.”
3. Troubleshooting
Problem-solving is not for the faint of heart. Customers/clients get upset, projects go awry, and deadlines and budgets get missed. When this happens, someone with strong troubleshooting and people skills needs to deal with the problem and solve it expeditiously. There are books and theories on problem-solving but the two best techniques are watching a mentor who has mastered this trait, and diving right in to handle the next issue that surfaces at your organization. Practice makes perfect. Start your ascent to be a top-notch problem solver by asking thoughtful questions, listening, apologizing and then making things right.
4. Project Management
Typically, your workday is broken into projects of some type that each has a beginning and end date, with milestone accomplishments, deliverables, and a team. Not only must you manage your team, but you need to understand how to break a project down into a logical series of steps.
5. Vision Casting
As you progress from manager to leader, you will need to identify projects that need tackling to make your organization more effective. This includes the soft skills of goal setting, brainstorming, and motivating stakeholders to follow you. Painting a picture of how an organization’s vision and goals impact each team player’s goals, and vice versa helps to build momentum, so everyone is “rowing in the same direction” and has a stake in the outcome.
6. Selling
Individuals who advance in their firms can sell their ideas to their peers and bring new customers to the organization.
You are not an imposter. You were well trained to be a recreation supervisor, lawyer or architect. If you layer your ongoing technical development with the six soft skills listed above, you’ll overcome Imposter Syndrome, and you won’t have to rely on seniority for advancement opportunities because your ability as an emerging leader will help you progress at a much faster rate.
