What you must do if you don’t feel ready to take on a new leadership role

Consider Alex, who successfully led a major project in his unit after the sudden departure of the head of the unit. It was a clear case of a team member taking leadership responsibility within an organisation. 

Alex decided to step into the vacuum created by the leader's departure and led the unit. The unit is now stable, and a new leader is needed to lead the team. 

The leadership team had their eyes set on Alex, who had successfully steered the ship to safety. However, he "does not feel ready" to take the position despite all he has achieved over the past few months due to his extraordinary leadership abilities. 

Many professionals sometimes feel they need more time to be ready to take up higher leadership roles. In the example above, Alex is prepared, given what he has achieved and has the trust of the leadership team. 

Yet he does not feel ready. The feeling of not being prepared can lead to self-sabotage and self-defeating behaviours. Hence, leaders must take steps to address the issue of insecurity. Unfortunately, leaders try to hide this insecurity with other behaviours, which makes them ineffective. 

In their minds, they have to prove they are ready. For example, they begin to shut everyone down in meetings. They get set in this way of behaving to establish their leadership, and they may not change even when they have become confident in their roles.

In his book Self Esteem at Work, Nathaniel Branden speaks about this. He noted, "Persons suffering from deep insecurities and self-doubt tend to behave in inappropriate and counterproductive ways in their dealings with others, whether this means being over-controlling and gratuitously combative or timid and over solicitous. 

Instead of being task-focused, too often they focus on self-aggrandisement or self-protection; either way, their relations with others are adversarial rather than benevolent." 

The feeling of being unprepared may be natural but should not be ignored by any leader. It is difficult for individuals to act beyond who and what they believe themselves to be. What must leaders like Alex do to feel ready to take up new roles and thrive rather than shooting themselves in the foot? 

What you can do to feel ready

First, leaders must recognise that leadership is situational and that no two situations are alike. Hence, no leader will feel ready and prepared for a new role. 

It's a new role and leadership context with unique demands and challenges. Nobody is or can be sufficiently prepared for a new position. 

So readiness is embracing with humility the learning required to embark on this new role. In addition to humility, leaders must have the courage to start the new journey using their previous experience as guideposts and the discipline to follow the routines that all leaders follow when they begin new journeys. 

Unfortunately, many leaders fall into a lull in their existing roles and believe they can easily transport themselves into new positions when every new job comes with ever more pressing challenges in today's increasingly challenging environment. And the probability of failing is high.

Second, leaders need to trust themselves. Anyone leading is an imposter since leadership is about change and reimagining the future. This scenario is uncomfortable. It does not mean that one cannot lead. 

The achievement of leaders may inspire confidence in their abilities, but trust comes from a deeper awareness of the processes leaders use to achieve results. 

Leaders must be deeply aware of the leadership and management processes they use to achieve results. They continue to refine their strategies and strengths over time. 

Leaders begin to trust themselves when they regularly reflect, evaluate abilities, seek feedback, extend their leadership practice, and share the lessons from their experience. 

I call these practices the REPS (Reflection, Evaluation, Practice, Sharing) that leaders do regularly to grow their leadership.

Journal your reflections and progress on your journey

Journaling allows leaders to reflect on their successes and challenges. Alex has been making remarkable progress daily on his journey but has yet to recognise and embrace the progress, lessons and insights. 

Evaluate your leadership on the journey

Leaders who are engaged in a regular evaluation of their strengths and abilities believe they are a work in progress. 

They seek feedback from those they work with and use it to improve their leadership. Some of the questions you can ask yourself regularly are: What strengths have brought me this far? 

What has made my leadership effective? What do I need to do differently next time? What do I need to learn from this situation for the next leg of my leadership journey? Suppose this is Alex's regular evaluation; in that case, Alex will feel ready when he can step up to the next level on his leadership journey. 

He would have worked on whatever weaknesses he perceived he might have and also learned to compensate for them.

Practice continuously and extend your skills

Leaders are constantly learning and growing. Being on a learning journey does not mean that you are not capable or ready. Leaders only grow when they take up more significant challenges. 

I have coached many leaders through their leadership transitions to trust in their abilities and lead in new ways when they began feeling inadequate. What was considered a more significant challenge was an opportunity to grow and extend their skill.

Share your learning

Regularly sharing your leadership lessons with peers and other junior members of the team will prove to yourself how much you have learnt and achieved over the years.

Your confidence will soar. You will trust yourself. Those around you will see your progress and invite you to take on other leadership roles, validating your skills and experiences. 

Some leaders do not feel ready, and rightly so, because they have not been "exposed" or are yet to develop the requisite experience to step on the next rung on the ladder. 

The same ideas also apply. They must use the REPS as they continue to gain the skills and expertise required to thrive when they assume a higher role on their leadership journey. 

The writer is a Leadership Development Facilitator, Executive Coach and Strategy Consultant, Founder of the CEO Accelerator Program, and Chief Learning Strategist at TEMPLE Advisory. 

The mission of The Leadership Project is to harvest highly effective leadership practices and share them in a manner that other leaders can easily incorporate into their leadership practice. 

If you have an idea or leadership practice to share, kindly write to programs@thelearningtemple.com. Until you read from us again, keep leading…..from leader to leader, one practice at a time.