5 Tips for Overcoming Insecurity as a Manager

5 Tips for Overcoming Insecurity as a Manager

There’s a lot of stress that comes with a leadership role. Everyone looks to you to make the right decision. Everyone puts all of their burdens on you and expects you to solve all of the problems as they arise. You’re under a lot of pressure and oftentimes, that can make even the strongest of leaders feel a little insecure from time to time.

If you’re battling insecurity, there are a few things you can do to help reset your mindset and get back to operating from a place of confidence.

1. Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

One of the biggest reasons managers are insecure in their roles is because they’re expected to have all the answers. To the extent you can, delegate! Put your team in charge of making scheduling decisions with an online scheduling app. Give responsibility to a team member to oversee a specific project or task. The more you can delegate, the easier it’ll be to manage without fear.

2. Think of the Glass Half Full

When you’re operating from a pessimistic mindset, it’s easy to fall into the trap that the world is out to get you. When something goes wrong, you dwell on it.

When you actively work to change your mindset and think of everything with a glass half full mentality, you’re better able to distance emotion from problems and come up with smarter solutions. This takes work but as soon as you can relieve yourself of feeling like you’re always in the wrong, you’ll help overcome your own self-induced insecurities.

3. Read Other People’s Stories

You’ve likely heard the statistics:

1. Famous publisher, Arianna Huffington got rejected by 36 publishers before she built her empire.
2. Bill Gates’ first company failed.
3. Walt Disney almost failed because he was told he lacked creativity.

The list goes on and on. Many of the most recognized names have failed before. Then, they picked themselves back up and triumphed in the face of rejection. If they can do it, you can too. Read their stories and draw inspiration.

4. Change Your Mindset About Projects

Has a potentially big project landed on your desk and you turned it down out of fear? If you’re insecure in your role, it’s harder to say yes to challenges.

To take advantage of projects, think of them in terms of being a tremendous opportunity. If you approach them out of fear of failing, you’ll have a harder time making decisions and enjoying the process.

5. Believe in Yourself in This Role

You became a manager because you have the experience and expertise to take on this position. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here. Believe in yourself in this role. You deserve to have the title and responsibility of manager.

Overcoming Insecurity Takes Work

It’s not easy to overcome insecurities, especially when everyone’s looking to you to take charge. By making a few small adjustments to how you approach management, you can feel more confident leading your team.

Author Profile Jon Forknell is the Vice President and General Manager of Atlas Business Solutions, Inc., a software marketing company specializing in employee scheduling software, including ScheduleBase employee scheduling software, and other business software solutions. In the past, Jon has been recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration as a SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Atlas Business Solutions was named as one of Software Magazine’s Top 500 Software Companies in 2004 through 2007 and again in 2010, 2013 and 2014.