How to Help Your Team Overcome Self-Doubt When Learning Something New
By using the Conscious Competence learning model.
If there’s one thing I’ve seen colleagues struggle with more than anything else throughout my HR career, it is self-doubt. Self-doubt often strikes when we face new challenges but lack confidence in our ability to rise to the occasion.
Never was the self-doubt cycle more pervasive than when I worked as a University Relations Recruiter and was responsible for recruiting dozens of recent graduates to join my company in their first full-time jobs post-graduation.
The days following their new hire orientations became eerily predictable over the years. For the first few days, everything was still shiny and new. They practically glowed with an untarnished sense of possibility and potential.
But, after a week or so, the novelty had worn off, and concern riddled their faces.
“I just don’t feel like I’m learning fast enough,” they’d confide in me. “I’m afraid I’m falling behind, and I have no idea what I’m doing.”
The blissful ignorance of not knowing what they didn’t know had worn off, and they were suddenly all too aware of their blindspots. Self-doubt had taken hold.
