Impostor Syndrome in Leadership: What New Leaders Need to Know

Something I am completely passionate about is serving new, emerging and experienced leaders as they navigate their way through leadership in a way that feels authentic, enjoyable and transformational, both professionally and personally.

The reason this lights up my soul and excites my brain is simple: I have been them.

I have intimate knowledge of what it feels like to step into the role you have worked so hard for and suddenly think, “EEK! Can I actually do this? Am I experienced enough? Qualified enough? Smart enough? Good enough?”

I didn't know it at the time, but what I was experiencing had names: Impostor Syndrome and Fraud Complex. That persistent feeling that somehow you've managed to get yourself into a room you haven't quite earned the right to be in. That somebody else knows more. That perhaps you were lucky to get the role. That at some point somebody is going to notice you don't have all the answers.

Stepping into leadership can make those thoughts and feelings louder.

You might have been highly competent and confident in your previous role. You knew your work, you knew how to perform and you knew what was expected of you. Then, you become a leader and suddenly the job changes.

Now you are responsible for people, decisions, performance, culture and conversations that aren't always comfortable. You're expected to create clarity even when you don't have every answer yourself. You're making decisions that affect other people and being watched in a completely different way.

That is where impostor syndrome in leadership can become particularly powerful.

It's no longer simply, “Am I good enough at my job?” 

It becomes, “Can I really lead these people? What if they don't respect me? What if I make the wrong decision? What if I can't handle the difficult conversations? What if I disappoint everyone?”

Perhaps the biggest one of all is, “What if they realise I don't know what I'm doing?”

Stepping into leadership changes the rules

This is one of the biggest transitions new leaders face, and I don't think we talk about it enough.

You are often promoted into leadership because you are good at what you do. You deliver. You solve problems. You are dependable. You understand your work.

Then suddenly your success is no longer measured only by what you can achieve. Part of your role is now helping other people perform at their best.

That requires a different set of muscles.

You need to know when to step in and when to step back, when to coach and when to direct, when to challenge and when to support, when to speak and when to listen. You need to hold people accountable, manage different personalities and make decisions without always having the perfect information.

Nobody hands you all of that wisdom with your new title.

So yes, stepping into leadership can be unsettling. It can also be one of the most expansive, exhilarating and fulfilling things you ever do.

So what did I do when I was terrified of letting down my boss, my team and myself? What did I do when I stepped into my first leadership role, and then the ones that followed, wondering whether I really had what it took?

I took back the reins.

Not by waiting until I felt completely confident, not by pretending I knew everything and not by becoming louder, harder or more authoritative.

I learned how I wanted to lead.

Over time, I created dynamic, highly performing teams. Teams that regularly smashed their targets and then set higher ones for themselves. Teams that were highly regarded throughout some very large organisations. Teams I constantly received compliments about for their customer service, professionalism, teamwork, friendliness, inclusiveness, enthusiasm, innovation and performance.

They consisted of the full gamut of the workforce: full-time and part-time employees, casuals, contractors, trainees, interns and volunteers. Different ages, different personalities, different ambitions, different levels of experience, and different things happening in their lives outside the workplace.

Learning to lead all of that taught me far more about leadership than any position description ever could.

It wasn't all rainbows, sunshine and puppies. There were difficult conversations around behaviour, performance and team culture. There were times when somebody simply wasn't right for the team. More than once I had to let someone go, and I learned that it is possible to be honest and clear without losing kindness or empathy.

There were decisions I got right and decisions I would make differently now. There are still moments I look back on now and internally cringe at how I handled things. There were moments when I felt completely in my element and others when I wondered what on earth I was doing.

I wouldn't change any of it for the world.

Those leadership experiences became some of the most exhilarating, life-changing, expansive and fulfilling experiences of my professional life.

Impostor Syndrome in Leadership: What I Learned

1. I learned to use impostor feelings rather than be ruled by them

One of the biggest shifts for me was realising that experiencing Impostor Syndrome or Fraud Complex wasn't automatically a bad thing. Used well, that little voice asking, “Am I good enough?” can make you reflect, prepare, stay curious and continue learning. It can stop you becoming complacent or assuming you have everything figured out simply because you have a leadership title. The key was not allowing it to take over. I learned to recognise the difference between a thought that could make me a better leader and one that was simply undermining my confidence. The presence of self-doubt didn't need to determine what I did next.

2. I became very clear on who I wanted to be as a leader

This became incredibly important to me. How did I want to show up, day after day and week after week? Who was I as a leader? What was my purpose? Those questions helped me become far more deliberate about my leadership. Leadership stopped being simply a position I held and became something I could consciously shape. I could decide how I wanted to lead, how I wanted to communicate and the kind of environment I wanted to create around me. That gave me something far more useful than trying to copy somebody else's style. It gave me my own.

3. I created strategy while remaining flexible and adaptable

I created a strategy for myself and for my teams while understanding that we were operating in a dynamic and changing environment, and this was long before 2020! Clarity is important. People need to know where they're going and what's expected of them. At the same time, flexibility and adaptability are key. Priorities change, organisations shift, people change and sometimes the plan needs to change with them. For me, good leadership meant having a clear direction while remaining responsive to what was actually happening around us.

4. I utilised my skills, strengths and natural gifts

I did a stocktake of the skills, strengths and natural gifts I already possessed and actually used them. When we step into a bigger role, it can be very easy to focus immediately on everything we still need to learn. Of course there will be gaps. Leadership brings new responsibilities and new skills to develop. I identified those gaps and found ways to fill them. At the same time, I became much more conscious of what I already brought with me. Your existing strengths don't disappear simply because your title changes. In fact, understanding and using them deliberately can become one of your greatest leadership assets.

5. I found professional support

I enrolled with a coach and kicked a considerable amount of my self-doubt to the shrubbery. The extra courage and confidence were a bonus. Having somebody outside the day-to-day environment gave me a place to think, challenge myself and see things from a different perspective. Coaching helped me understand myself better and strengthened the confidence I was building as a leader. I didn't need somebody to tell me how to lead. I benefited enormously from having somebody who could help me think more deeply about how I wanted to lead.

6. I paid attention to the person doing the leading

I became much more conscious of the activities, people and places that drained my energy and those that gave it back. Where I could, I removed or reduced the things that depleted me. I also became deliberate about making time for the people, places and activities that filled me with energy. For me, this wasn't separate from leadership. The version of me arriving at work influenced the version of me leading at work. If I wanted the best of myself to show up for my team, I needed to pay attention to what supported that version of me outside it too.

7. I became more intentional about time, focus and distractions

I became very aware of the things that could steal time and attention, both for myself and for my teams, and put practical tools and techniques in place to reduce unnecessary distractions. As a leader, I also became clearer about where my time and attention were best spent. Just because I could do something myself did not mean I needed to. Part of leading well was creating the space for other people to take ownership, build their capability and contribute more fully, while I focused on the things that genuinely required me as the leader.

8. I developed my emotional intelligence

I learned how to respond to situations calmly and rationally rather than react and then regret it later.

(and I didn't always get it right - sheesh.) Developing my emotional intelligence helped me become much more conscious of my own responses and the effect they could have on the people around me. Leadership brings pressure. It brings frustration. It brings moments when things don't go the way you hoped they would. Learning to pause before responding, rather than allowing the first flash of emotion to dictate what happened next, became an incredibly valuable skill. It didn't mean suppressing emotion. It meant becoming more aware of it and choosing what I did with it.

9. I sharpened my communication and learned to have courageous conversations

Being the boss is enjoyable when the news is good. The real test comes when it isn't. I sharpened both my verbal and written communication skills and learned how to have authentic and courageous conversations. There were times I needed to address underperformance, behaviour or something happening within the team culture. There were also times when the outcome of those conversations was not what the other person wanted to hear. I learned that honesty and empathy could sit alongside each other. Being clear didn't require me to be cold. Being kind didn't require me to avoid the truth. Some of the hardest leadership conversations I had taught me the most about how I wanted to communicate with people, particularly when the message was difficult.

10. I surrounded myself with people who supported, challenged and grew with me

The further we move up the career ladder, the fewer peers we often have around us. As I said earlier, no one warns us how disconnected, isolated or lonely leadership can sometimes feel.

There are things you can't always talk about with your team and decisions you need to hold differently once you are the person leading them. I surrounded myself with people who supported me, challenged me, grew with me and cared about me. They wanted me to succeed. My success was their mission too. Mentors, friends, family and peers. Having those people around me made an enormous difference, not just to the leader I became, but to the person I became alongside her.

The leader you become is not separate from the person you become

Looking back, leadership didn't simply make me better at leading teams. It changed me.

It asked me to become more self-aware, more courageous, more emotionally intelligent, more discerning, more willing to have difficult conversations and more trusting of myself. That is why I have spent so many years coaching leaders and emerging leaders.

I have worked with leaders across technology, tourism, education, sport, government, finance, engineering, energy, facilities management, events and retail, as well as small business owners and entrepreneurs. Different industries, different personalities and different challenges.

Yet I still see versions of the same person I once was: capable, accomplished, excited about the opportunity in front of them and quietly wondering, “EEK. Can I actually do this?”

Yes. You can.

You don't have to have it all worked out.

You do need to be willing to grow into the leader you are becoming.

If my story is resonating with you...

If you are stepping into leadership, growing into a bigger version of it, or questioning how much of the way you lead is truly yours and how much is still being shaped by self-doubt, expectations or old patterns, I have a couple of ways you can explore this further.

I have created two complimentary Blueprints you can work through in your own time.

The Unshakeable Woman Blueprint is for the woman who wants to deepen her self-trust, confidence and inner steadiness, so she can stop second-guessing herself and lead from a more grounded place.

Your Next Leadership Level Blueprint is for leaders who want to become more deliberate about how they lead. Whether you are stepping into leadership for the first time or have been leading for years, it will help you think more deeply about the leader you want to be and how you navigate the realities of leadership, including people, performance, delegation, difficult conversations, influence, decision-making and change.

Both are designed to help you step back from the noise, think more deeply and become more intentional about how you are showing up, both as a person and as a leader.

If you are ready for something more immersive, The Sky High Coaching Intensive is my in-person coaching experience for high-performing women who want the rare kind of room where they can exhale, think differently, be challenged, be supported and give themselves the space to look at what comes next.

I also work with clients privately 1:1 by invitation and referral only. You can find out more HERE.

Janelle Ryan is a globally recognised personal, career and leadership coach who works with high-performing professionals and established leaders navigating growth, change and the next phase of their life and leadership. She is the founder of Sky High Coaching, an international speaker, retreat leader and published author, known for her work on internal authority, soft strength and sustainable success. Janelle blends deep insight with practical application to help capable women lead with clarity, confidence and precision.