Why do I feel like a fake in my new management role?
Most project managers enter their roles through non-traditional paths without a clear roadmap, leaving them feeling like they faked their way in. This constant self-doubt makes it difficult to trust leadership decisions and creates a lingering fear of failure or termination.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1seeking advice from experienced professionals
- 2relying on pattern recognition over time
- 3acting confident before figuring things out
- 4googling, copying patterns, learning in public, and quietly panicking
- 5asking dumb questions early, listening a lot
- 6reframing past experience in organizational development chaos as projects
- 7fake it till you make it
- 8faking certainty to maintain trust
- 9reverse engineering rationale after the fact
- 10letting small fires burn intentionally
- 11fabricating a plan and asking team members to correct it
- 12backfilling documentation after decisions are already made
- 13questioning career choices and considering leaving the nonprofit sector
- 14performing self-searches to evaluate organization fit
- 15learning to push back against donors and boards or accepting the high emotional toll
- 16Reaching out to local or online professional associations and peer networks for guidance
- 17Finding an external mentor or coach to act as a sounding board
- 18Using AI to simulate mentorship scenarios and receive feedback on tasks
- 19Digging through old files and past documentation to piece together previous workflows
- 20Writing down all tasks and scheduling strict time slots for action items and brainstorming
- 21watching instructional videos on YouTube
- 22reading job descriptions, policies, handbooks, and standard operating procedures
- 23asking hiring managers to clarify expectations
- 24finding a mentor or network to ask questions and check for blind spots
- 25faking it until making it
- 26Waiting for a supervisor to arrive and resolve the issue
- 27Watching and absorbing how senior staff fix problems in real time
- 28Using process documentation and step-by-step outage guides
- 29Copying management styles and techniques seen in previous roles.
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“About a year ago I joined a nonprofit because I wanted my work to have more direct impact. I knew I’d have fewer resources. I knew I’d wear more hats. I actually welcomed that.”source ↗
“What I wasn’t prepared for was how emotionally hard it would be.”source ↗
“Last month I received some difficult feedback. Some of it was fair. Some of it stung because it reflected problems that existed long before I arrived. Regardless, it’s made me question whether I’m actually the leader I thought I was.”source ↗
“I’m having one of those moments where I’m wondering if I made the biggest career mistake of my life”source ↗
“I've seen a number of posts recently that had the gist of "How am I supposed to do this?" or "I think I messed up..." from newer PMs and as much as sometimes in my head I'm "just making it up as I go" and feel like I've got imposter syndrome”source ↗
“if you ever feel like you’re winging it, congrats. you’re doing the job exactly like everyone else.”source ↗
“most PMs are learning on the job, constantly.”source ↗
“I confess I struggle with this too. I have worked in large corporations and also non-profit adjacent jobs (education, government) and I recently at 50 joined a true non-profit and it's been . . . interesting.”source ↗
“I have no idea what I’m doing.”source ↗
“Most PMs feel like we “faked” our way in because there isn’t a clear path to PM.”source ↗
“I feel like I’m fake all the time, but that path does make some sense.”source ↗
“I’m responsible for fundraising, donor relations, alumni engagement, sponsorships, events, our donor database, marketing, social media, newsletters, website stuff, enrollment marketing, etc. I’m also currently trying to help pull together a major annual fundraising event while finding sponsors and auction donations, and I feel like I’m drowning.”source ↗
“The hardest part is that I don’t even know how to ask for help because I don’t know what I need help with. I don’t know what I don’t know.”source ↗
“Then I get anxious because I feel like I’m accomplishing nothing, which makes it even harder to start anything.”source ↗
“At this point, I genuinely can’t tell whether I’m lazy, bad at my job, completely underqualified, or just overwhelmed because I was put into a role that normally requires more experience and mentorship than I have.”source ↗
“6 years in and I still feel like I’m faking it.”source ↗
“I have a nagging fear that I am not cut out for the job, mainly because I can't believe I am jumping from coordinator to BP.”source ↗
“Additionally, a small part of the job will include ER, which I have never had to do in any capacity so I am mainly nervous about this part of the job.”source ↗
“Does anyone have advice for moving into a much bigger job and dealing with the imposter syndrome?”source ↗
“I entered my current job through admin work (that I knew how to do from previous experience) but the position grew faster than I could learn out of necessity (very limited resources).”source ↗
“i was genuinely lost. I like didn't know where to start and lowkey got overwhelmed”source ↗
“thought I learned a tremendous amount these last 9 months but I was humbled today. I know nothing.”source ↗
“For sure. Because of my rocky career start, I'm especially feeling it most days thinking I'm just going to get laid off again.”source ↗
“I have never been in a management position unless you count high school newspaper editor lol.”source ↗
“I am asking what is a good source for techniques on management. I am hoping to get good people which means I am most likely the weakest link with no experience.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 25Why do I feel so overwhelmed after starting a new job?
- 6Why is my new manager micromanaging everything I do?
- 5How do I know what my job actually is with no communication?
- 3How to get noticed by management without feeling fake
- 8How to deal with a manager who is confidently wrong
- 2Starting a first sole sysadmin job with no documentation