Empowering Yourself
- Claire Platt
- Mar 5
- 2 min read
Before you can empower others, you need to make sure that you have a healthy mindset, and able to achieve your goals without being slowed by internal barriers. The DFE Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders: Wave 3 report (November 2024) reported that 89% of teachers and leaders experience stress at work, with 63% saying that work has a negative affect on their mental health.
Most leaders experience a form of imposter syndrome at some point in their career. We can be plagued by that inner critic that tells us that we’re not good enough, or haven’t done enough. That negative voice might tell us that peers are doing better than us, or that we are failing in some way. These thoughts, if left unchecked, can be very destructive. Interestingly, a research study found that women were especially vulnerable to imposter syndrome (Clance and Imes, 1978) while other research suggests that minoritised people of different genders, sexual orientations, class and race/ethnic backgrounds, also frequently tend to experience imposter feelings (Bravata et al., 2019).
Therefore, leaders need to develop strategies to minimise that inner critic and drown it out with a different, more positive internal voice - let’s call that the inner mentor. Thankfully, there are a number of proven strategies for overcoming these feelings of self-doubt.
How to Combat Imposter Syndrome:
Develop a Growth Mindset. You can prove to yourself, time and again, that you are capable of acquiring new knowledge and skills. When you experience success, take time to acknowledge this and celebrate it. The bigger your celebration, the more that you will improve your mood and reduce your imposter syndrome.
Be Self-Compassionate. Give yourself a break and focus on your positive characteristics. Spend time regularly recognising all your accomplishments. Keep a 'good news' file of positive letters, emails, newspaper cuttings, pupils drawings etc. Practise expressing gratitude for all the areas that are going well in your work or personal life.
Social Support Strategies. Turn to those you trust (ideally away from the work environment) to give you social support and realistic appraisal of your positive characteristics and accomplishments. You can also rely on a mentor to help you. This is one reason many CEOs have executive coaches: to help them combat imposter syndrome and use it as a positive motivator to achieve further success.
References:
Bravata, D. M., Watts, S. A., Keefer, A. L., Madhusudhan, D. K., Taylor, K. T., Clark, D. M., Nelson, R. S., Cokley, K. O., & Hagg, H. K. (2020). Prevalence, predictors, and treatment of impostor syndrome: A systematic review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 35(4), 1252–1275. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05364-1
Clance, P. R., & Imes, S. A. (1978). The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 15(3), 241–247. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0086006
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