Taking the Lead

Stepping into a leadership role after years of working toward it can be one of the biggest milestones in your professional—or Toastmasters—career. But it can also be one of the most intimidating, thanks to a mix of impostor syndrome, dealing with new responsibilities, and adapting to new working relationships with coworkers who are now subordinates.

Luckily, there are ways to navigate this change successfully.

Beware the Impostor

For many people who get promoted into leadership roles, impostor syndrome—the fear that you don’t really know what you’re doing and will soon be found out—shows up early and can take time to overcome, says Maureen Zappala, DTM, a Toastmasters Accredited Speaker and expert on this dynamic.

“People with impostor syndrome feel like, ‘I got the success, the position, the assignment, the title, because of luck or timing,’” she says. “Those things can come into play, but the bigger picture is that we did a lot to ensure our success. We just don’t always believe it.”

Zappala explains that impostor syndrome doesn’t come from a lack of confidence; it’s a self-imposed limit that can keep people from reaching their potential or attempting to move to higher levels in an organization.

“People who get impostor syndrome are successful, they’re competent, they’re regarded as being at the top of their game,” she says. “Doubt can set in when your role becomes something new, something unfamiliar, maybe less structured or choreographed. It’s normal and natural to feel uncertain in that situation.”

The best way to overcome this syndrome? Just keep swimming, Zappala says.

“Do the best with what you’ve got, and trust the process,” she says. “Ask for help around you. Trust your background, your character qualities. Your technical skills might need to be developed in some areas, but your character qualities are part of you. Are you curious? Are you flexible? Are you responsible? Are you dependable? Those things will help carry you over that transition.”

Other workplace experts say that asking questions—particularly well-thought-out, open-ended questions—can help you overcome impostor syndrome. It’s likely that no matter what level you are at, your coworkers will understand that you don’t know everything when you start in a new position and will be willing to help. Asking questions also shows that you want to learn, and can help you form friendships with coworkers and team members.

New Working Relationships

Another challenge that new leaders face, especially if they are moving into leadership at the same company where they have worked for a long time, is the transition from coworker to supervisor or manager.

“For people who are first-time leaders, there is often this difficult dynamic where they’ve just stepped up from the level they were at, and maybe they’ve stepped up to lead people they have been friends with,” says Aneeta Rattan, professor of organizational behavior at London Business School in the United Kingdom. “New leaders can fall into the trap of trying to continue that friendship style with their former peers, who might now be a level below them, or might now be their direct reports. But that doesn’t work anymore, because your former peers now see you differently.”

Leaders who rise through the ranks often have an advantage, Rattan says—knowing how people at the level below them think and feel gives them valuable insight into the inner workings of the company and what type of management style is likely to produce the best results. But it’s imperative, she says, for new leaders to quickly set boundaries and model their preferred way of interacting with their new subordinates.

“When your peer gets promoted, you’re waiting for them to give you a signal of what the new relationship will be,” she says. “There doesn’t need to be a big conversation. The leader has to sit down with themself and think through how they build belonging and how they’re going to navigate these relationships and adjust them. Then they can signal that through their behavior.”

This might mean changing your communication style from friendly and informal to more professional, declining invitations to happy hours and other social events, and setting boundaries on what topics are and are not acceptable to talk about at the office.

Multilevel Thinking

As much as new leaders need to think about their relationships with the people they oversee, it’s equally important that they curate relationships with others at their level and above as they establish themselves in their new role, Rattan says.

“I tell people to make sure that any chance they have to interact with individuals who are more senior than they are, don’t just have that interaction, but try to have a memorable conversation with them,” she says. “Say you’re at a meeting, but it hasn’t started yet, and you find yourself sitting next to a senior leader—don’t just talk about the weather. Seize the opportunity and be prepared with a meaningful question. Meet them with a more meaningful engagement than what they might expect someone more junior to talk about.”

Rattan also advises new leaders to quickly find colleagues they connect with and ask those people for recommendations of others they might get along with.

“Sometimes we can be very reticent to ask for that type of advice, because we don’t want to feel like we’re asking to use their network, but you’re not asking them for anything instrumental,” she says. “You’re asking people, ‘Given what I’m working on now, in this role, is there anyone you think I should connect with?’ They might say, ‘You know what, four years ago, so-and-so was in your role, and they have had a star trajectory since then. I think you will really get along.’”

The Toastmasters Leadership Lab

Whether you are currently in the running for a leadership position or see such a role on the far horizon, getting involved in leadership in your Toastmasters club can be a great way to learn and practice the skills you’ll need to move to a higher level.

“Toastmasters is the lab of leadership,” says Zappala, who has been a club and District officer. “It’s where you learn the skills that you can use out in the real world. It’s where you learn to get familiar with being uncomfortable.”

Toastmasters also helps you build relationships and communication skills that can help when the stress of a new leadership position starts to get the best of you, says Rattan, who has seen many of her students join Toastmasters to advance their careers.

“One of the things I understand from my students about Toastmasters is that it can really build your confidence and clarity, and it also connects you to a community,” Rattan says. “If you’re in an early leadership position and all that wonderful work you did learning how to present effectively starts to get interrupted by nerves and anxiety and stress, you have a community you can reach out to and say, ‘I could really use a coffee catch-up with a few people.’ That’s an invaluable asset.”

Stepping into a leadership role comes with many challenges, but being aware in advance of the problems that can arise—and knowing how you will address them—goes a long way in making the transition smoother and easier to handle.

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