Overconfidence in the workplace

Our employee surveys show that employees nowadays tend to overestimate themselves in the workplace. This is in stark contrast to the past, where self-image was very often rated worse than external image in management feedback.

As a result, the following questions are regularly criticized in employee surveys:

• XY uses my skills and my potential
• My manager sees my potential and supports me
• At XY, the vacancies are given to the right people
• I see the career development opportunities I want at XY

This does not necessarily have anything to do with the organization, but can be an indication of overestimation. If managers or employees overestimate themselves, this becomes a serious problem for the company. This is because they often do not deliver the required performance, but create a bad atmosphere in the team.

An issue for Generation Y?

This is increasingly being observed - but not only - among young managers/employees from Generation Y. You can also read our exciting blog post "Multi-generational workplace": tensions and opportunities.

Overconfidence and performance

In their studies, social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger have found that incompetent people in particular often overestimate their own abilities. According to Dunning and Kruger, poor performance is more often associated with a pronounced overestimation of one's own abilities than is the case with better performance.

The Dunning-Kruger effect refers to the cognitive inability to judge oneself correctly. Dunning was also able to show that the higher a person rates their own competence, the stronger this effect is.

The role of the line manager

People who overestimate themselves can neither recognize nor acknowledge the abilities of others. However, change always begins with self-awareness. Managers should therefore make their employees aware of the "misjudgement". Of course, this requires empathy and sensitivity.

Leadership feedback supports managers

It becomes particularly challenging when a manager tends to overestimate their own abilities. With 360-degree leadership feedback, self-image and external image are professionally compared. This allows the manager's strengths and development potential to be recognized and addressed, which significantly increases the quality of leadership.

The happy medium

In principle, many people do not assess themselves correctly, but it always depends on the degree of deviation. Problems can arise from both overestimating and underestimating oneself. Insecure employees may unconsciously sabotage their own career. This is also referred to as impostor syndrome. The term " impostor phenomenon" was first introduced in 1978 in an article by Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes. It describes the feeling of being an impostor who is actually not sufficiently qualified.

"I'm not good enough" stands in stark contrast to people who tend to overestimate themselves and believe that they are actually entitled to a much higher or more responsible position. A middle way would be ideal: not constantly emphasizing and overestimating your own achievements, but not underestimating them either.