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Most of us have suffered from imposter syndrome—the fear that we’re not up to the job and if people find out they will laugh at us, and fire us, and then we’ll die. (Like the first day on the job when I had to ask my staff how to turn the copy machine on.…) Well, there’s a virtue for that! Here are three ways humility helps ease imposter syndrome: No. 3: Own Your Deficits Fearlessly looking at our strengths and weaknesses gives us the clarity to be open about what we’re not so great at doing. For example, I’m a word person, not a number person, and one of my first jobs was as an assistant in a photo studio. This job included adding up the daily checks and cash and making sure that number jibed with the receipt book. I felt bad that the two hardly ever matched. With more humility, I could have told my managers that because I had never successfully balanced a checkbook, they may want to give that task to someone else. No. 2: Ask for Help Years later, as director of a government office, I had an employee in her 30s who was like a petulant teenager. I had run out of ideas and went to my supervisor for guidance. Familiar enough with the benefits of humility by then, I knew that asking my boss for help would come across as a strength, not a weakness, because I was putting the good of the office first and my ego last. It’s liberating to be straight about our deficits and trust other team members to have our back. There’s no hiding, no fear of being found out. We can then bring more confidence to doing what we’re good at, which encourages the rest of the team to do the same. No. 1: Work From Your Strengths If we help build a culture in which it’s OK to admit our weaknesses and to receive training for it or assign it to another team member, the benefits are huge. There’s less shame, more productivity, and more worker engagement—because people can be successful—which leads to greater employee retention. Humility to the RescueTom Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, once said, “I believe the most important trait of a good leader is humility.” A man who reported to Monaghan for 10 years explained how this virtue showed up in his boss’s leadership: “For all his accomplishments, Tom is unmistakably humble. In demeanor he is soft spoken and polite. In leading meetings he’s Socratic, asking more questions than giving direction.” There is power in a billionaire founder walking into a meeting with the attitude that he’ll find his best solutions from people in the room! Monaghan’s employee went on to say, “He is humble in self-disclosure, often quite spontaneously. I was initially surprised at this. He had a habit of citing a personal shortcoming or failure, sometimes very nonchalantly.” Tom Monaghan was an incredibly successful entrepreneur. If he didn’t have imposter syndrome, it’s likely at least in part because he was open about his mistakes and deficits, and he relied on his team to come up with great solutions—which allowed him to work from his strengths. By doing so, he set the kind of example that makes for a flourishing office culture. After all, our humility is rooted in the great glory we enjoy as baptized children of God and in our destiny in heaven. In relation to that glory, everything else is small stuff. …Want to keep reading Rose’s articles? We’re switching them to her membership group, Virtue Circle, where you can continue to get Rose’s weekly insights into practicing virtues like patience and humility that make us better people — and great leaders. AND you’ll have access to her private zoom group every month for coaching, celebrating our successes, and fellowship as we build the foundation of strong leadership: VIRTUE. Click here to learn more!

So many things in building a business depend on us: determining our core product and core client, networking, scheduling, content creation, supply chain issues, marketing. And did I mention prayer, excercise, and sleep to support the focus and energy we need to do all that? It’s easy to forget that we’re in business because God as called us to this and he will support us if we remember that our core mission is to serve him and his people. And that he’s doing the heavy lifting. The weaknesses of biblical CEOs like Moses (remember the Egyptian in the desert?), Aaron (of the golden calf incident), Paul (who called his followers “stupid” in his frustration), David (adulterer and murderer) and Peter (well….. Peter…..) didn’t get in the way of God’s building up the Kingdom through them. And if we keep our eyes on Jesus, our weaknesses won’t get in the way of God working through our business, either. You’ve heard of work/life balance. Let’s pray today for a God/me balance — and not try to take on the job of God Almighty who alone can bring abundant fruit from our efforts — in his way and in his time.

On too many days, I measure my worth by the undone items on my to-do list. And they fester as a kind of low-grade fever in my soul that keeps me from enjoying what I have done. I told a mentor yesterday that I loved checking in with her because it kept me from feeling like I was drowning with all that needs to be done in building my business. She said, “Why are you drowning yourself?” Busted. I realized that the sinking feeling of not having done enough, of not having been enough had become a habit that played right into the enemy’s hands. My feeling of failure didn’t track with reality. I had been focusing too much on what I’m not instead of who I am to the One who made me. Forgetting Whose We AreI had forgotten that my identity is God’s love for me. And that there is nothing in the world I have to do to earn His everlasting love. All the time I was “drowning myself,” I was drowning out the eternal word of mercy that God was speaking to me. Exhale…. Time for a reality check. Time to focus back on who we are in God’s eyes. His opinion is the only one that matters, and his view of us is always based on a greater love than we can imagine. So, take that, to-do list! God Speaks to Us NowGod lavishes truth on us from his own heart that makes the lie of inadequacy fade like fog under beaming sun. This is what he whispers to you and me today: “With age-old love I have loved you” (Jeremiah 31:3). “The LORD has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies” (Zephaniah 3:15).“The LORD your God is in your midst … who will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, who will sing joyfully because of you” (Zephaniah 3:17). We have this from the mouth of God Almighty, who rejoices over us with singing and who takes delight in us, every moment of every day. We are not our to-do list; we are the glad song of God’s heart.

 

Most of us have suffered from imposter syndrome—the fear that we’re not up to the job and if people find out they will laugh at us, and fire us, and then we’ll die. (Like the first day on the job when I had to ask my staff how to turn the copy machine on.…) Well, there’s a virtue for that! Here are three ways humility helps ease imposter syndrome: No. 3: Own Your Deficits Fearlessly looking at our strengths and weaknesses gives us the clarity to be open about what we’re not so great at doing. For example, I’m a word person, not a number person, and one of my first jobs was as an assistant in a photo studio. This job included adding up the daily checks and cash and making sure that number jibed with the receipt book. I felt bad that the two hardly ever matched. With more humility, I could have told my managers that because I had never successfully balanced a checkbook, they may want to give that task to someone else. No. 2: Ask for Help Years later, as director of a government office, I had an employee in her 30s who was like a petulant teenager. I had run out of ideas and went to my supervisor for guidance. Familiar enough with the benefits of humility by then, I knew that asking my boss for help would come across as a strength, not a weakness, because I was putting the good of the office first and my ego last. It’s liberating to be straight about our deficits and trust other team members to have our back. There’s no hiding, no fear of being found out. We can then bring more confidence to doing what we’re good at, which encourages the rest of the team to do the same. No. 1: Work From Your Strengths If we help build a culture in which it’s OK to admit our weaknesses and to receive training for it or assign it to another team member, the benefits are huge. There’s less shame, more productivity, and more worker engagement—because people can be successful—which leads to greater employee retention. Humility to the RescueTom Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, once said, “I believe the most important trait of a good leader is humility.” A man who reported to Monaghan for 10 years explained how this virtue showed up in his boss’s leadership: “For all his accomplishments, Tom is unmistakably humble. In demeanor he is soft spoken and polite. In leading meetings he’s Socratic, asking more questions than giving direction.” There is power in a billionaire founder walking into a meeting with the attitude that he’ll find his best solutions from people in the room! Monaghan’s employee went on to say, “He is humble in self-disclosure, often quite spontaneously. I was initially surprised at this. He had a habit of citing a personal shortcoming or failure, sometimes very nonchalantly.” Tom Monaghan was an incredibly successful entrepreneur. If he didn’t have imposter syndrome, it’s likely at least in part because he was open about his mistakes and deficits, and he relied on his team to come up with great solutions—which allowed him to work from his strengths. By doing so, he set the kind of example that makes for a flourishing office culture. After all, our humility is rooted in the great glory we enjoy as baptized children of God and in our destiny in heaven. In relation to that glory, everything else is small stuff. …Want to keep reading Rose’s articles? We’re switching them to her membership group, Virtue Circle, where you can continue to get Rose’s weekly insights into practicing virtues like patience and humility that make us better people — and great leaders. AND you’ll have access to her private zoom group every month for coaching, celebrating our successes, and fellowship as we build the foundation of strong leadership: VIRTUE. Click here to learn more!