How to Embrace and Overcome Common Fears of Being a CEO : The Imposter Syndrome
Previously, we discussed that all CEOs have fears regardless of whether they lead a start-up company or a growth-stage company or how strong and fearless they might appear to others. Today we will dig deeper into a specific fear many CEOs have. You may be surprised (or relieved!) to know that over 70% of CEOs suffer from Imposter Syndrome. Your moments of self-doubt and feeling like a fraud are not unusual. Nor are questions like:
- “Do I deserve to be a CEO?”
- “Will I be seen as an imposter?”
- “What if I fail?”
Does this describe you? If you regularly have self-doubt, you are a member of a large club in which most members don’t know other members exist not to mention not knowing who other members are. 70% of CEOs is a very large club. One reason why such a high percentage of CEOs battle this fear is that Imposter Syndrome disproportionately affects high achievers…. e.g. CEOs ….eg YOU.
How can you minimize fears of being an imposter?
- Remember that you already earned your spot as a CEO.
- Have trusted peers outside your company to talk to openly and candidly on a regular basis and remember – there is a 70% chance they share the same fear of being thought of as an imposter.
- Accept pride in and taking ownership of every single success – you deserve it.
How can you minimize fears of failure?
Failure is part of life. All CEOs will experience an occasional failure. When you are CEO of a growing company, occasional failures are going to happen.
- Don’t let fear of failure keep you from taking risks that are necessary for growing your company.
- Have a clear vision of success and communicate the goals clearly with your employees.
- Trust your leadership skills and hold your employees accountable.
The key is possessing the Leadership skills to lean on. If you are asking yourself the “fear” questions, Yarger Executive Coaching can help. In founding and successfully growing 2 startup companies, we were once exactly where you are now. How might we serve you?
