Adeolu Adewumi-Zer at ZER Consulting Africa explains why being unapologetically You is the key to thriving in leadership
Stepping into leadership as a woman—especially in corporate spaces—often comes with an unspoken challenge: imposter syndrome. That nagging voice that whispers, ‘Do I really belong here?’ or ‘Have I truly earned this?’ can be persistent, even for the most accomplished professionals.
But what if the key to overcoming imposter syndrome isn’t about proving ourselves to others—but embracing who we already are?
When I decided to make the move from consulting to corporate, it shouldn’t have been a huge surprise that I ended up in the global HR department of one of my clients – my largest one in fact, the one I, myself, had landed – given that these were people who had worked with me already.
Perhaps a year after I joined this rather international group, led by a Swiss man, we got a new head of compensation and benefits, an American. Given my connection with the USA, I tend to get along quite easily with Americans, and it was no different in this case. One day as we were chatting, he shook his head in disbelief at something I’d just said and exclaimed, “Adeolu, you’re such a dichotomy. You’ve managed to get a mix of everything. . . an American accent, a German mind, and a Nigerian heart.” That summed it up so well that I never forgot that phrase.
