There’s a lot of writing and talk out there in the world of management, and sometimes in our own minds, that says, “Hey, take the jump, level up and fake-it-till-you-make-it.” It’s accompanied by “just get in there suck it up and be strong — You got this, — Tuff-it-out until you get there…your awesome…etc.”

I say, wow, it is quite an exhausting feat to, suck-it-up, fake-it and be awesome all in the same workday! Not to mention all the anxiety, fearing we’ll be “found out”.

Here’s the way I see it.

We need to ditch this whole mindset that says being a beginner is something we need to fake our way through.

We need to lighten up on ourselves. We’ll always be beginners on some level; give ourselves that and not think we need to be experts on everything or even anything.

Let’s support ourselves and others to give up this fake-it-till-you-make-it charade, admit where we are, and simply start taking reasonable steps to grow, learn and develop.

Take a deep breath, relax and validate ourselves. We don’t need facades of strength. We need embraces of acceptance.

There is no fake-it-till-you-make-it.-as- a-manager. You’ve already made it. You got there the day you accepted a position in management.

From that point on we’re all in the same boat, on the same journey.

The journey is embracing our growth and it’s great to be doing this together.