The Superhero Myth: How Imposter Syndrome is Holding You Back.
- Dorian Cunion
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
Sometimes high-performing individuals act as if they are the only ones capable of completing work. They are often celebrated as "superhero" leaders who stay late, fix problems, and never ask for help. However, as revealed in a recent episode of the Coaching Gold Podcast featuring guest Desiree Cocroft, this mindset is a critical blind spot rooted in fear and can prevent your organization from ever truly scaling.
TLDR: Overcome the Superhero Myth by Asking For Help
Many leaders stall because they try to carry the entire organization on their shoulders. They believe in the superhero myth and allow a lack of psychological safety and imposter thoughts to get in the way of seeking help. Desiree Cocroft’s 900 Ask Challenge, which asks leaders to make 10 intentional requests a day over 90 business days, helps leaders break away from doing everything themselves. By practicing the habit of asking for help, leaders can increase their productivity.
Psychological Safety, Imposter Syndrome, and how it prevents making the ask.
Many leaders, particularly those in small businesses or nonprofits, find themselves operating on an island. Without the infrastructure of a large HR department or a built-in support system, it is easy to assume you must personally solve every crisis. Cocroft notes that for high-achieving women and leaders of color, this is often compounded by cultural scripting that demands total self-sufficiency and strength at all costs.
This reluctance to ask for help is often due to a lack of psychological safety. A fear that in asking for help, they will be perceived as less than, and unworthy of the role they are in. Drawing on the insights of Louise Hay, Cocroft explains that professional hurdles often boil down to two core, vulnerable needs: feeling safe and feeling like you are "enough". Imposter Syndrome is common for women and minorities who are in roles that are typically held by white men, and can cause self-trust challenges. When a leader lacks self-trust, they struggle to delegate. To delegate, you have to trust your ability to assess talent, communicate expectations, and provide people with the resources they need to be successful. If you do not feel safe enough to trust yourself or your team, you may unconsciously resist letting go of control, creating a bottleneck that stops your growth and your team's potential.
The 900 Ask Challenge: A Relationship-Driven System
To break this cycle of isolation, Cocroft developed the 900 Ask Challenge. Originally conceived as making 30 "asks" per day for 30 business days, she refined this into a more sustainable model of 10 "asks" per day over 90 days. While it may sound like an aggressive outreach strategy, Cocroft emphasizes that it is actually a relationship system designed to habituate the act of reaching out and being vulnerable enough to ask for and receive help.
The challenge covers three distinct, impactful areas:
Organization Asks: Seeking help executing roles or responsibilities
Conceptual Asks: Getting help developing an idea.
Topic Asks: Soliciting knowledge or training related to a specific task.
This isn't about being a "thirst trap"—the aggressive, unsolicited sales pitches that often clutter social media DMs. Instead, it is about opening doors for meaningful conversation. During her own challenge, Cocroft made 900 asks in 60 days. The result? 119 people responded positively. This success rate led her to submit her first $100,000 business proposal and secure a $20,000 contract.
Overcoming Scarcity and "Thirstiness"
A critical takeaway for any small business owner is the impact of your beliefs on your professional outcomes. Cocroft warns that if a leader’s personal finances or internal world are in turmoil, they often show up to calls in a state of scarcity. This "thirstiness" can be felt by others and acts as a repellent to potential partners.
To be effective, a leader must prioritize regulating their own nervous system. When you show up calm, authentic, and detached from the desperate need for a "sale," you create a safe space where relationships can flourish. Relationships, Cocroft argues, ultimately close the most deals because they are built on a foundation of mutual respect rather than on a transaction.
The Power6 Leader Connection: Building Team Trust
This shift from "doing it all" to "asking for help" is a core tenet of the Power6 Leader Program. One of the primary responsibilities of a leader in this framework is to build a culture of teamwork and protect team momentum.
When a leader practices the "900 Ask Challenge" mindset, they signal to their team that it is safe to be vulnerable. This builds team trust, ensuring that employees feel safe asking questions or admitting when they need support. Without this safety, a team remains in "survival mode," where people-pleasing and imposter syndrome prevent anyone from taking the necessary risks to achieve ambitious goals.
Success Hacks: Confidence Follows Action
For those who feel "on the fence" about stepping into a larger leadership role, Cocroft offers a powerful insight from her book, Get Your Life Today: Confidence comes when you decide.
She likens leadership to double-dutching. You can stand on the sidelines, watching the rhythm and worrying about whether you will trip. But confidence doesn't come while you are standing still; it arrives the moment you decide to jump in and commit to the movement. In this context, failure is simply feedback—it is the data you need to adjust your timing for the next jump.
Accelerating Your Organization's Growth
Whether you are a nonprofit director looking to restructure your team or a solopreneur aiming for your first six-figure contract, the path forward requires a mindset shift. You must move from being the superhero who does it all to the strategist who builds relationships and has the courage to ask for what they need.
Are you ready to fill the gap in your leadership?
Connect with Desiree Cocroft: If you are a high-performer looking to master self-awareness and achieve your goals, reach out at Desiree.cocroft.com or find her on LinkedIn.
Accelerate Your Small Business: If you need guidance on scaling your organization and articulating your value, contact Dorian Cunion at www.yourpathexecutivesolutions.com
Transform Your Team: To learn how the Power6 Leader Program can help you move your team from survival to high performance, visit www.power6leader.com
Don't wait for confidence to find you. Decide to jump in today.
References
About our guest:
Desiree Cocroft, an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and award-winning author, joined hosts Dr. Rudy Jackson and Dorian Cunion to discuss the psychological barriers to leadership success. Her insights provide a strategic yet deeply human roadmap for small business owners and nonprofit leaders to move from "survival mode" to a high-performance culture rooted in trust and genuine alignment.
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