Leadership between doubt and overestimation

Imposter syndrome and the Dunning-Kruger effect

Imposter syndrome: when success feels like cheating

Imposter syndrome, first described in 1978 by psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes, refers to the feeling of being an impostor who has not earned their successes. Despite proven abilities, those affected believe that they have achieved their position or their achievements not due to competence, but through luck, coincidence or the inability of others to recognize their supposed incompetence. It mainly affects high-achieving people who find it difficult to accept their successes and who doubt themselves. They then question whether they really deserve the recognition.

People with Imposter syndrome are often characterized by the following features:

• Self-doubt: Those affected doubt their qualifications, even if they are objectively highly competent. As a result, they are unable to realize their full potential.
• Fear of exposure: You live in constant fear of being exposed as a “fraud” and failing. This results in a constantly high level of stress, time and performance pressure. Despite this, those affected are often successful and popular with colleagues because they do their work well, but do not push themselves to the fore so as not to “blow their cover”.
• Perfectionism or procrastination: They set themselves unrealistically high standards to compensate for their supposed weaknesses. As a result, those affected work very hard to achieve the best possible result. However, there are also those affected who have such strong doubts about being able to cope with a task that they keep putting it off and only finish it at the last minute. In both cases, those affected are naturally not satisfied with the result.
• Inability to celebrate success: Recognition or praise is often dismissed with thoughts such as “That was just luck” or “Anyone could have done it”.

Effects on companies

Imposter syndrome has far-reaching consequences, especially for managers. Self-doubt can lead to decisions being delayed for too long or not being made at all. In addition, those affected often try to compensate for their perceived incompetence through excessive commitment, which can quickly lead to burnout. At the same time, the fear of being perceived as incompetent often makes it difficult to communicate clearly and confidently. However, this is an important basis for successful leadership. The imposter syndrome is particularly problematic when new employees are being sought or a promotion is at stake. As those affected usually talk down their performance and do not appear very self-confident, they are often passed over even though they would be a great fit for the position. But unused potential, overwork and burnout also have a negative impact on companies. In addition, those affected often isolate themselves and distance themselves from other team members to avoid being seen as impostors. This can disrupt team dynamics.

Recognizing and counteracting imposter syndrome

Occasional self-doubt is normal and can show us our limits. However, if you find that constant self-doubt is a major burden for you, your employees or colleagues, it’s time to work on it. If you are affected yourself, it can help to keep a written record of your successes and progress in order to learn to assess your own performance better. Not playing down or belittling compliments and seeking the opinions of others can also help. Have you recognized the Imposter Syndrome in an employee? Then encourage them to take the measures mentioned above. These tips can also help:

• Encourage open communication: Create an environment in which employees can talk about their doubts. Giving them a name can go a long way towards helping them deal with them better. In addition, those affected can learn that other team members also occasionally have self-doubts, and they learn how others perceive their competence.
• Praise and recognition: Give specific and constructive feedback that emphasizes employees’ strengths. Make progress and successes transparent and link them to team members and their skills so that it is clear that the successes were no coincidence.
• Get actively involved: Negative self-perception can cause those affected to withdraw. It can therefore help to actively approach these people and invite them to get involved.

The Dunning-Kruger effect: overestimation through ignorance

On the other side of the spectrum is the Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias phenomenon described by psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger in 1999. It describes the tendency of people with low abilities or little knowledge to greatly overestimate their competence. Dunning and Kruger showed that you have to be competent in an area in order to be able to assess your own competence in that area. Conversely, someone who is incompetent in an area cannot recognize their own lack of competence. These people therefore generally consider themselves to be smarter or more capable than they actually are, because they do not have the necessary skills to make correct judgments. This is often already the case when you look at other job profiles. As you usually don’t have the full knowledge of what skills are required for another profession, you are quickly tempted to think that you could easily do this job yourself. This leads to a failure to recognize the successes of others. So while you overestimate your own abilities, you fail to recognize the actual skills and knowledge of others. The greater the incompetence, the greater the belief in one’s own abilities.

The Dunning-Kruger effect therefore leads to:

• Excessive self-confidence: Those affected believe they can solve situations or problems without understanding or really being able to assess the actual complexity.
• Resistance to feedback: Criticism or feedback is ignored or devalued.
• Simplification of problems: Complex issues are often presented as uncomplicated.

Effects on companies

People who suffer from this effect usually appear very self-confident, even though they are relatively unqualified. As a result, they are often hired and usually more likely to be promoted than those who suffer from Imposter Syndrome. However, this can have serious consequences. For example, managers who overestimate themselves often make decisions without fully understanding the consequences or risks. They also don’t like delegating tasks because they assume they know better or can do everything themselves. This then leads to employees not feeling heard or valued and they lose their motivation, which in turn can damage the working atmosphere in the long term. If employees work for unqualified managers who consider themselves to be highly qualified, this often leads to very high levels of stress and can result in highly qualified employees leaving the company.

Recognizing and counteracting the Dunning-Kruger effect

If you are aware of the effect and have perhaps recognized it in employees, colleagues, superiors or even yourself, you have already taken the most important step towards dealing with it successfully. If you catch yourself doing this, you can remind yourself in future not to jump to conclusions, but to question yourself first. Don’t hesitate to ask others questions in order to learn and make better assessments in the future. It also helps to accept criticism and at least think about it. Trust in the expertise of your team members and delegate tasks accordingly. However, do not proceed blindly, because as a manager it is important to identify employees who are characterized by excessive self-confidence and to take appropriate measures:

• Define job competencies before hiring: To avoid hiring or retaining employees who could harm the company through the Dunning-Kruger effect, you should be clear about exactly what skills an employee needs in the role in question and test them – not only during the recruitment phase, but also throughout the rest of their career. You can compensate for a lack of knowledge through targeted further training and thus ensure competence.
• Clear goals and expectations: Define clear tasks and success criteria against which you assess your employees’ performance. This will help you to quickly recognize exaggerated self-perceptions. Regular constructive feedback and an annual performance appraisal also put the Dunning-Kruger effect into perspective.
• Encourage teamwork: Ensure that employees work in teams in which different perspectives challenge their own perceptions. In this way, team members can learn to better assess their own abilities and those of others.

Conclusion

Imposter syndrome and the Dunning-Kruger effect are two sides of the same coin: both show how much our perception of ourselves can deviate from reality – be it through self-doubt or overconfidence. Managers who are aware of these phenomena can not only increase their own effectiveness, but also create an environment in which honesty, feedback and continuous learning are encouraged.

The myPARM CorporateNavigator management software offers comprehensive functions that support managers in developing a realistic self-perception and counteracting both the Imposter Syndrome and the Dunning-Kruger effect. Integrated tools such as the balanced scorecard, SWOT analyses and strategic portfolio management enable managers to make well-founded decisions and clearly define their strategic goals. The management information system (MIS) provides all decision-relevant data at a glance, which promotes self-reflection and enables an objective assessment of one’s own performance. In addition, myPARM CorporateNavigator supports the communication of strategies and goals to employees, creating a transparent and open working environment that facilitates the exchange of feedback and thus helps to avoid misjudgements of one’s own competencies.

Would you like to get to know the myPARM CorporateNavigator in a demo? Then make an appointment with us right away!