LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Youre Never Too Experienced

to Fake It Till You Learn It
by Herminia Ibarra
JANUARY 08, 2015

Novices emulate favorite bosses and

colleagues in an effort to look and talk as if
they know what they are doing even when
they have no clue. Its how they develop and
grow (just as children do, first imitating their
parents, then their peers). But this natural
and efficient learning process tends to break
down as people gain experience and stature.
As we become more certain about what we
know and who we are, the idea of
mimicking others feels artificial, even
distasteful. So we stick with whats natural
and comfortable. And thats precisely what
gets us in trouble as we hit career transitions
that call for new and different ways of leading.

In my research on how experienced managers

and professionals step up to bigger leadership
roles, I have observed both the value and the
difficulty of returning to our youthful, fake-it-till-you-learn-it strategies. The only way to pick

up the softer skills that we need to lead with greater impact is to observe and emulate
people who already have them, trying their strategies and behaviors on for size before making
them our own.

Take, for example, Clara, an HR specialist who was promoted a level above her boss to
become her companys director of operations. The new assignment meant managing people
who had been her superiors and overseeing functions, like finance, in which she had no
expertise. I understood in theory that a good manager should be able to manage areas
without understanding the technicalities of the work, she told me, but in practice this made
me feel like a fraud.

At a loss for what to do, Clara decided to emulate people she saw as effective leaders. When
she met with the finance manager, one of her new direct reports, Clara greeted her warmly,
putting an arm around her shoulders as shed seen her own boss do in the past. And in her
first staff meeting, she tried out the blunt and direct way of speaking that shed frequently
noticed other directors in the company using.

I went home exhausted each day from playing the role of Director of Operations, she said.
It was depressing even embarrassing at times. Still, she persisted, adjusting her tactics
along the way. After about a year, in the course of leading a successful meeting, she realized
she had grown into the role. As I began to gain confidence in my own ability to do this job, I
also began to fall into a leadership voice that felt more like my own and less like an imitation
of my former bosses.

This kind of identity stretch-work comes more naturally to some people than to others.
Psychologist Mark Snyder identified the profile and psychology of chameleons, people who
are naturally able and willing to adapt to the demands of a situation without feeling like a
fake. Chameleons have core selves defined by their values and goals but have no qualms
about shifting shapes in pursuit of their objectives. Then there are the true-to-selfers, as I
call them, those who view situational demands that push them away from what they do

naturally as threats to their authenticity. Their self-definitions are more all-encompassing,

including not only their innermost values, but also their leadership styles, speech, dress, and
demeanor.

A quintessential chameleon, author Michael

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Lewis famously describes how imitation

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inexperienced trainee into a highly successful

bond salesman in his best-selling book Liars
Poker. Thinking, as yet, was a feat beyond my
reach. I had no base, no grounding, Lewis
writes. So I listened to the master and
repeated what I heard, as in kung fu. It

reminded me of learning a foreign language. It all seemed strange at first. Then one day, you
catch yourself thinking in the language. Suddenly words you never realized you knew are at
your disposal. Finally you dream in the language.

People gravitate more readily to chameleon strategies like Lewis earlier in their careers, when
it is easier to accept and express ignorance. With experience and success, our habitual ways of
thinking and doing become more entrenched and our work identities solidify. We value
authenticity, so we continue to act in accordance with our sense of who we are even when
it becomes patently ineffective. Unfortunately, the effort we put into protecting our true
identities can really hold us back later in our careers, when were trying to build on past
successes to take on new and bigger roles or responsibilities as leaders.

Suppose you have become known (and been rewarded) for your ability to use rigorous
analysis to figure out solutions to organizational problems. What happens when youre
suddenly expected to start selling your good ideas to diverse, skeptical stakeholders outside
your area of expertise? Intellectually, you know you need to persuade and inspire, but you

just cant bring yourself to do it. So, you put more work into your facts and figures and
when your ideas repeatedly go unheard, you conclude that the organization and its key
players are political.

A better option is to look around to identify people who are good at selling their ideas and
watch carefully what they do and how they do it. People who use this strategy concentrate
their efforts first on reproducing the behavior they have observed, even if they dont fully
understand it. Then with practice, like Lewis, they try to get inside the brain of another
person. In their minds, theyre not being inauthentic theyre simply evolving so they can
get the job done. After a while, they find they have acted their way into a new way of
thinking. They havent just developed their persuasion skills; they now value a different way
of working and see themselves as the kind of people who are good at getting others on board.

By definition, transformative learning starts with unnatural and often superficial behaviors.
When we are working at improving our game, a clear and firm sense of self is a compass. It
helps us navigate choices and work toward our goals. But when we are looking to change our
game, a rigid understanding of authenticity is an anchor that keeps us from sailing forth. By
viewing ourselves as works in progress, we multiply our capacity to learn, avoid being
pigeonholed, and ultimately become better leaders. Were never too experienced to fake it till
we learn it.

Herminia Ibarra is a professor of organizational behavior and the Cora Chaired Professor of Leadership and
Learning at Insead. She is the author of Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader (Harvard Business Review Press,
2015) and Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career (Harvard Business Review Press,
2003). Follow her on Twitter @HerminiaIbarra and visit her website.

This article is about LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

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Related Topics: LEADERSHIP TRANSITIONS

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Valencia Woodard

10 months ago

Best article EVER!

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