REALITYWIPE

RESEARCHERS

The Science of New-Manager Anxiety: Why the Promotion Doesn't Feel Earned

3 the researchers behind it — "I got promoted because I'm good at the work, so I'll just keep doing the work, better, from the front." It sounds like a plan. Research on the transi

Harvard Business School (at time of 1999 publication); later INSEAD and London Business School

Herminia Ibarra

Known for:Research on how professionals adapt their identity to new roles through outward experimentation rather than inward reflection

Key findings

  1. 1999

    People moving into new professional roles adapt through 'provisional selves' — trying on different behaviors and images, observing role models, and evaluating the fit against real feedback, rather than through pure introspection. ↗

  2. 2015

    Leadership identity is not a starting point to be discovered through introspection but an 'outsight' gained through action — redefining the job, diversifying the network, and experimenting with new ways of getting things done, then letting the self-concept catch up. ↗

The Eurich Group; organizational psychologist

Tasha Eurich

Known for:Large-scale research on self-awareness, including how gaining power affects the ability to accurately gauge how others perceive you

Key findings

  1. 2018

    Across ten studies with nearly 5,000 participants, most people believe they are self-aware, but only 10–15% actually meet the criteria — and self-awareness splits into an internal component (how you see yourself) and an external one (how others see you) that don't move together. ↗

Zenger Folkman

Jack Zenger

Known for:Large-sample research on leadership effectiveness and feedback, conducted with Joseph Folkman, showing employees want more corrective feedback than managers tend to give

Key findings

  1. 2019

    Analysis of 51,896 executives found those ranked in the bottom 10% at asking for feedback were rated at just the 15th percentile in overall leadership effectiveness, while those in the top 10% for feedback-seeking were rated in the 86th percentile. ↗

  2. 2022

    In survey data on employee preferences, 57% preferred corrective feedback to praise, and 94% said corrective feedback improves their performance when it is delivered well — directly contradicting the assumption that new managers protect relationships by withholding it. ↗

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