You're Not an Imposter. You're Just Growing.
Ninety-one percent.
That's the proportion of business leaders who tell us they have suffered from imposter syndrome before starting LEAD™. These aren't junior managers finding their feet, they're CEOs, Managing Directors, Managing Partners and owner-managers who built their companies from nothing.
People who, by any reasonable measure, have already proved they can do the job, and yet privately, they sometimes feel like they're waiting to be found out.
If you're reading this and feel it resonates in some way, you're not weak or in the wrong seat - you're just growing. And growth, by definition, means operating beyond what feels comfortable.
The Doubt That Comes With Competence
Here's what most people get wrong about imposter syndrome: they think it's a sign of inadequacy, but it's not. It's a sign of awareness.
The leaders who never doubt themselves are the ones you should worry about. They've stopped learning. They've stopped questioning whether they could be doing things differently. They've confused confidence with competence, and that can be a dangerous place to lead from.
So what about the leaders who feel like imposters? They're the ones paying attention. They see the gap between where they are and where they want to be. They notice what they don't know. They're honest enough to admit, at least to themselves, that they're figuring it out as they go.
That's not imposter syndrome: that's self-awareness. And self-awareness is the foundation of every meaningful improvement in leadership.
Where It Comes From
Most SMB leaders didn't train to be leaders. They trained to be engineers, accountants, developers, tradespeople. They started a business because they were brilliant at something. And then the business grew, and suddenly the job changed.
The skills that made you successful as a practitioner don't automatically translate into the skills you need to lead a team of 30, or 50, or 100. Managing cash flow isn't the same as managing people. Closing deals isn't the same as setting a strategic direction. Being the best person in the room isn't the same as building a room full of people who are better than you.
And because nobody taught you how to make that transition, you assume you should just know. You compare yourself to other MDs who seem to have it figured out. You might go to conferences and listen to people on stage who sound like they've never had a moment of doubt in their lives. And you might think: they must have something I don't.
They don't. They're just better at hiding it. Or they've already done the work to close the gap between what they know and what they need to know.
The Problem With Hiding It
The real damage from imposter syndrome doesn't come from the doubt itself. It comes from what you do with it.
You may avoid the bold decision because you're not sure you're qualified to make it. You don't challenge the underperforming team member because part of you wonders if the problem is your leadership, not their performance. You turn down the opportunity because you're not confident you can deliver at that level.
You play it safe. And playing it safe, over time, becomes the single biggest constraint on your business.
The gap between where your business is and where it could be often has nothing to do with your market, your product or your team. It has everything to do with the decisions you're not making because you might not trust your own judgement enough to make them.
What 100% Looks Like
After completing LEAD™, 100% of our delegates report feeling more confident in their leadership - not 99%. Every single one.
That's not because we give people a certificate and tell them they're wonderful. It's because of what happens when you put a group of SMB leaders in a room together and create the conditions for honesty.
You discover that the MD of a £5m manufacturing business has the same doubts you do. The CEO of a professional services firm is wrestling with the same team challenges. The owner-manager who seems to have it all together is quietly concerned about the same things that keep you awake at 2am.
And in that shared honesty, something shifts. The doubt doesn't disappear entirely, but it shrinks and becomes something you can name, examine and work through. With people who understand. Who challenge you. Who hold you to a higher standard than you'd hold yourself.
Confidence, it turns out, doesn't come from knowing all the answers. It comes from knowing you're not the only one who doesn't have them.
Growth Requires Discomfort
If you're feeling like an imposter right now, it probably means you're attempting something that matters. You're leading at a level that stretches you. You're making decisions with consequences. You're trying to be better than you were last year.
That discomfort is the price of growth. The alternative, the comfortable certainty that comes from never questioning yourself, is the price of standing still.
So the key question isn't whether you feel like an imposter, it's what you're going to do about it. Keep carrying it quietly, or find a space where you can work through it with people who know exactly what it feels like?
LEAD™ is ten months, and the confidence you build lasts considerably longer.
If you'd like to talk about whether it's right for you or a senior member of your team, we're here for a conversation. Our next LEAD™ programme starts on 21st and 22nd April.
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