6 Ways Leaders can Recognize Reticent Team Members

Brief 

Leaders can mitigate the impact of “impostor syndrome” — especially among women and those in low-power positions on their team — by publicly recognizing their skills and accomplishments and mentoring them, writes Rita McGrath. Companies lose out when employees feel like impostors because they will be more reticent to contribute ideas and may seek another job.

Insight

unwillingness to take risk, to avoiding new opportunities and to feelings of inferiority. It’s that voice in your head that says “you can’t do this!”While it can be a little motivating in that it can spur you to make greater efforts, the resulting anxiety usually isn’t worth it.

Where does imposter syndrome come from?

Psychologists have reasoned that imposter syndrome, the nasty voices inside our heads telling us that we aren’t worthy, originates in our attempts to make the world make sense.

When we are faced with the challenge of holding two or more conflicting beliefs values or attitudes, the result is cognitive dissonance, an uncomfortable state of mind. People will go to enormous lengths not to have to grapple with the discomfort of cognitive dissonance.

Leon Festinger, who first describe the theory, suggests that we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and behavior in harmony and avoid disharmony (or dissonance). This is known as the principle of cognitive consistency.

When we have an inconsistency, we will go to enormous lengths to resolve the tensions. Thus, people who know smoking is bad for them, but smoke anyway, will justify the behavior by suggesting that the research isn’t conclusive, quitting will make them fat, or that it’s better to life a life full of things you enjoy doing than experience deprivation. We all have a powerful desire to have a balance between our beliefs.