Are you new to a senior leadership role and feeling uncertain about your ability? Perhaps you knew you were ready for a step up and a fresh challenge but now you are in the role it feels too much? So how can you get comfortable with being uncomfortable and still perform in your role?
Don’t worry you aren’t alone as 82% of leaders feel unprepared when they start a new role (Personnel Today 2025). Contributing factors may be because you are shifting from doing to leading, former peers may have become direct reports and having to make tough decisions can conflict with wanting to be liked. All of this coupled with juggling a different workload and thinking strategically can lead to imposter syndrome creeping in.
A framework to help explain what is happening
The Learning Zone Model (Tom Senniger) helps to give a framework and explain further why you may feel uncomfortable as a new leader. It describes the psychological shift from safe and known tasks to new and unfamiliar leadership demands. New leaders can struggle because they are pushed out of their Comfort Zone and into the Learning Zone, which feels uncomfortable, and sometimes into the Panic Zone, which causes stress;
- The Comfort Zone (Familiarity): In this zone leaders are secure, efficient, and know what is expected, however little growth happens.
- The Learning Zone (Discomfort): In this zone leaders operate beyond their current knowledge base which could lead to mistakes and uncertainty and produce discomfort. The discomfort is evidence that learning is happening.
- The Panic (or Fear) Zone: Discomfort turns into fear when expectations are too high and support is too low. In this zone, leaders can feel overwhelmed, risk-averse, and ineffective.
Steps to help you stay in the right zone and remain calm
The optimum zone to be in as a new leader is the learning zone, so how do you stay in this zone and prevent yourself from heading in to the Panic zone? Below are eight easy steps to help;
- Reframe Discomfort as Growth: Recognise that discomfort is a sign of adaptation, not a failure of competence. Accept that you may make mistakes but this is part of the learning process and discomfort is a sign that learning is happening.
- Adopt a growth mindset – View challenges as learning opportunities rather than threats to self-esteem. Notice how you are feeling about the situation and try to flip your feelings around and view the discomfort as a sign of growth. Try and accept the discomfort is temporary and will stop within a few months.
- Use previous experiences as a tool – Think about when you felt like this before? What did you do to help manage this feeling previously? What action did you take? Would those actions help you in this situation?
- Ask lots of questions – During meetings with your manager use the time to ask questions and to clear up any uncertainties. Additionally, in meetings with your team it is fine to admit you don’t know all the answers and to ask opinions as this will show you to be an honest and inclusive leader.
- Remind yourself of your purpose and legacy in the role. Why did you take on the role, what do want to have achieved by the time you leave this role? This will anchor you back to your “why” and help with managing feelings of uncertainty.
- Build and nurture connections – With peers in your company and externally to give you a support network. External connections in particular will help you to view things from a different perspective and can act as an impartial sounding board.
- Focus on what you can control – Such as your list of actions each day, learning, your health and selfcare. Try to let go of anything thing which is outside of your control.
- Be patient – Remember it normally takes up to 18 months to feel fully comfortable in a new role, so be patient with yourself. Notice, keep a record and celebrate small victories each day which will help to build your confidence in the long term.
It may be you will find yourself moving in between different zones when you are new in your role, however using these steps will help to keep you grounded, move you back in to the learning zone and feel more comfortable and in control.