When I was a kid, I loved to Trick or Treat on Halloween.

I loved dressing up like Darth Vader, walking around my neighborhood and filling up my pillowcase with free candy. The only thing that I didn’t like was the mask.

I don’t know what masks are like today, but in the late 70’s and early 80’s they were not great. Two tiny holes to breathe. Two tiny holes to see. A tiny elastic band that was ready to snap at any moment.

I don’t like wearing masks, but I wore one to school every day for the first 10 years of my career as a private school leader. I was terrified that someone would find out that I didn’t know what I was doing. So, I put on a mask of competence and confidence and went through my day. All the while, my insides were churning because of my self doubt, my self talk and my belief that I was an imposter.

Some recent studies reveal that over 75% of leaders in all industries have dealt with feelings of imposter syndrome at some point during their careers. This is especially true for private school leaders early in their careers or experienced school leaders that switch to a new school.

On today’s episode of the Private School Leader Podcast, we are going to talk about The 6 Ways to Overcome Imposter Syndrome:

I hid behind a mask for 10 years. I don’t want that for you. There are tangible strategies that you can use to overcome imposter syndrome. I can’t wait for you to listen to this episode because I want you to realize that you are right where you belong, you have what it takes and you are worthy of the leadership role to which you have been called.

Thank you for taking me along with you when you are walking the dog, driving to school or running errands. I appreciate you and what you are doing for the lucky kids and teachers at your school. Thanks so much for listening and thanks for making a difference!

Mark Minkus

I want to give you a gift to say “thank you” for listening to the podcast. I have created a FREE guide for you called “5 Strategies To Help You Work With Difficult Parents”. We know that working with parents is part of the job and most of our parents are great, but some of them can be very demanding and emotional and difficult. This guide will give you the tools that you need to build better relationships and have better meetings with the difficult parents at your school. Go to theprivateschoolleader.com/parents to grab the guide. Thank you again for listening every week!

Please check out all of the free resources on my website that can help you serve and lead your school community. There are "Plug & Play PD's" (45 minute webinars with guided notes) as well as Top 10 Lists of Leadership Books, Productivity Books and TED Talks over at www.theprivateschoolleader.com/resources. You can grab the show notes for today's episode at www.theprivateschoolleader.com/episode27

Please write a review of this podcast and help push this content out to more leaders. I would love to get your feedback about the podcast, ideas for future episodes and hear about how you are implementing these strategies in your life and at your school. You can email me at [email protected] Thanks!!

I’ve created a FREE RESOURCE for you called “The Top 6 Ways To Protect Your School From a Lawsuit”. This is a 10 page pdf that will help you to keep your staff and students safe and help keep your school out of court. Litigation is expensive, time consuming and extremely stressful. This common sense guide will help you to be more intentional and proactive when it comes to protecting your school. You can grab “The Top 6 Ways To Protect Your School From a Lawsuit” at www.theprivateschoolleader.com/lawsuit. Thanks!