In Over Your Head?

Ever feel in over your head? Everyone has felt it at one time or another, the feeling that you aren’t qualified, you’re not good enough, you shouldn’t be here, that there is someone better suited to what you are doing. All leaders feel this way at one time or another, but most often the feeling will arise at the start of a new leadership position. It is how the fledgling leader reacts to feeling in over your head that dictates how successful they will be in the future.

A leader in a new environment can be progressive and positive, viewing the learning curve as an exciting time of growth and personal development, but just as easily (and probably more easily) the leader can become dictatorial, seeing the learning curve as a period of weakness and a time to force control.

The lack of familiarity with a situation creates insecurity, and insecurity can undermine a person’s sense of themselves. It affects the perspective of the circumstances they are in, as well as their value to the organization and the people they are leading.

When I was 27, I ran for Mayor of my hometown. I quit my job and ran full time, eventually winning and causing quite a stir in the community because of my age. The night of the election I was riding high from the thrill of the win, but after the incumbent Mayor conceded, there was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind. There was too much excitement to worry about it, but later that evening the feeling got stronger until it washed over me like an ocean wave.

Now what? NOW WHAT? I was a deer in the headlights.

I had just won the election, but I hadn’t really planned on what to do after I won. Sure, I had daydreams about being mayor, and I had the plan that my team and I had worked on for the two years prior, but I had no experience, no knowledge, and no frame of reference for how to start being mayor. It doesn’t mean that I wasn’t serious about winning, but my energy was focused on the win.

This was my fight or flight moment, I could have collapsed and withdrawn into my shell, or I could just keep going -- I chose the latter. I paused...planned, and then followed 7 simple rules; rules that allowed me the time to learn without assuming the role of a student, and to establish the mantle of leadership without forcing control.

When in over your head I recommend the following:

1. Take the time to listen and learn; this is fun and exciting.
2. Assess your resources; develop the plan for effective implementation.
3. Establish clear rules; but not so restrictive as to limit your ability to succeed.
4. Don’t promise what you won’t deliver; do it too many times and you lose your standing.
5. Stay focused on your goal; don’t get lost in the minutia of learning.
6. Allow people to follow; understand that loyalty is earned not forced.
7. Give yourself a break; you don’t have to be perfect, you do have to be human.