Why You Don’t Need Fixing, You Need a Strategy
Written by Claudia D. Thompson, Leadership Consultant
Claudia D. Thompson is the founder of The Business Fabrik, the no-nonsense leadership academy for entrepreneurs who never planned to be bosses. With her BOSS method and book Take Charge, she helps small business owners take control and lead with confidence, on their own terms.
As a small business owner (especially one with a team), it’s so easy to feel inadequate at times. To wonder “Who am I to do this?” or its slightly nastier cousin “I am not good enough.” Being responsible not just for putting food on your own table but also ensuring other people’s families are fed at the end of the month is a lot of responsibility. And if you never learned how to run a business or lack suitable role models, then those feelings are probably your constant companion. Sometimes you’d love to take the lid off other people’s businesses to see if they face the same challenges as you and if what you’re doing is okay. Sound familiar? Then this article is for you.
First things first
You are not broken. There is nothing wrong with you, and you don’t need fixing. In fact, statistics show that globally, around 62% of knowledge workers report experiencing impostor syndrome, with creative arts, environment, law, healthcare, IT, and HR seeing some of the highest rates (65-87%).
Today’s noisy Social Media world is quick to make you feel like you should do better, make more money, have happier employees, or just “smash it” in some other way. A lot of those ‘overnight success stories’ forget to mention the years of trial and error, of wanting to give up, and asking what it’s all for because that stuff doesn’t sell.
In doing so, they amplify the already-present feelings of inadequacy. Every time you pick up your phone to distract yourself or relax, you’re hit with more messages of ‘you’re doing it wrong.'
So, let me tell you right now: You are good enough. You have what it takes to succeed. You just need a strategy to help you move forward. A lot of those unsure feelings come from winging it, from firefighting all day and lacking an overall plan. Let’s dig deeper.
Impostor syndrome – Success’s nasty companion
Impostor syndrome isn’t caused by a single factor. Instead, it results from a blend of personal, social, and cultural influences. Personality traits like perfectionism or a high need for approval, your family and upbringing (e.g., growing up in overly critical or high-achieving environments), being in spaces where you are ‘different’, a lack of support, societal expectations, and other factors can form your very own unique impostor cocktail.
In your day-to-day life, it shows up as persistent feelings of being a ‘fraud’, overpreparing, overworking or procrastinating out of fear of being ‘exposed’, perfectionism (yup, that is impostor syndrome), a fear of failure or success, constant comparison, avoiding new opportunities due to self-doubt, downplaying your achievements, difficulty accepting praise, ‘people-pleasing’ tendencies or physical and emotional exhaustion, stress, anxiety or depression.
And no, this isn’t a tick-box exercise where you need to check all the boxes to be ‘officially’ diagnosed with impostor syndrome. Now that you know what it is, let’s look at how to fix it.
Your medicine: Having a plan
You just labelled your experience. Recognising and naming your feelings is the very first step towards doing something about them. And if you’re anything like me, knowing that almost two-thirds of people out there experience the same emotions is immensely helpful too.
The next step is ongoing self-reflection, notice those feelings of inadequacy when they show up: are there patterns? Do they arise with certain tasks? Around certain people? In situations with your staff? Or when you haven’t eaten? Keep a mental diary to catch those emotions and spot ‘repeat offenders’.
But the most important tip I can give you is this: have a strategy. A plan. An overarching mission for doing the things you do. Having that will almost act like a distraction.
Your mind wants nothing more than to keep you safe. And making you believe that you are not good enough is just its very sneaky way of doing that, so having a strategy that you can fall back on is your way to silence those voices.
By ‘strategy’, I don’t necessarily mean a detailed 3-5 year plan (unless that’s your style). I mean something to work toward and a plan for how to get there.
This could be an upcoming product launch, a profit goal, or a desire to improve team culture. It doesn’t need to be written down (although I personally love writing down my goals and key steps and placing them around my desk where I can see them daily). What that does is, whenever doubt creeps in, you snap out of it by reminding yourself what it’s all for. You can to tell yourself: “This feels weird, but it’s necessary to get me to [enter your goal here].” That becomes a tick-box exercise, going through the motions if you like. It’s part of the game to get what you want.
How to build a strategy
So, how do you get a strategy? That’s probably the harder bit because it requires taking time out of working in the business to work on it instead. And that’s something only you can do. No external consultant can write your plan for you, not if you want it to be meaningful to your real circumstances, anyway.
Ideally, once a quarter, sit yourself down and ask:
Where do I want the business to go?
What do I want the team to look or act like?
What does my ideal working day look like?
And then work backwards from there. For example, if you want a more reliable and self-sufficient team, you’ll need to identify tasks to delegate, pinpoint the key players in your team, learn how to delegate effectively, and create an accountability action plan to ensure quality is upheld. And when it comes time to have difficult conversations with your team, and that feels a bit scary, you can remind yourself that it’s necessary to achieve the better team you set out to create.
You don’t need fixing – You need a strategy
Making time for strategy is, in most cases, easier said than done, but it is a non-negotiable for sustainable business growth and for feeling in control (and not like an impostor anymore).
And because we understand the struggles of already incredibly busy small business owners, we’re currently working on something very special that helps you identify your blind spots and offers solutions, without having to find time for lengthy discovery calls. We’ll be launching it on 13th August.
Read more from Claudia D. Thompson
Claudia D. Thompson, Leadership Consultant
Claudia D. Thompson is the founder of The Business Fabrik, the no-nonsense leadership academy for entrepreneurs who never planned to be bosses. After seeing the damage poor leadership can do to good people, she made it her mission to change how small business owners lead.
Her BOSS method©, outlined in her book Take Charge, helps them stop firefighting, start leading and build teams they trust. Claudia empowers business owners to lead with confidence and clarity without turning into someone they’re not.
Her mission: Better bosses. Happier teams. Stronger businesses.
