The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You

by Julie Zhuo

Imposter syndrome is what makes you feel as though you’re the only one with nothing worthwhile to say when you walk into a room full of people you admire. Imposter syndrome is what makes you double-, triple-, or quadruple-check your email before hitting Send so that nobody finds any mistakes and figures out you’re actually a fraud. Imposter syndrome is the sensation that you’re teetering along the edge of a sheer cliff with flailing arms, the whole world watching and waiting to see when you fall. Here’s the thing to remember: feeling this way is totally normal. Linda Hill, a professor at Harvard Business School, has spent years studying the transition into management. “Ask any new manager about the early days of being a boss—indeed, ask any senior executive to recall how he or she felt as a new manager. If you get an honest answer, you’ll hear a tale of disorientation and, for some, overwhelming confusion. The new role didn’t feel anything like it was supposed to. It felt too big for any one person to handle.”