This is not a fad ❌
Hello dear reader,
There’s a few topics that have remained popular in news articles and discussion, and I always worry that when that happens we start hearing words like ‘bandwagon’ and ‘latest fad’ and then people stop taking the original concept seriously.
Today’s topic most definitely falls into this category, and yet I believe it is crucial to be discussed, normalised and perhaps seen differently. It’s not a fad, it’s not a fleeting moment when we lose confidence, it’s more debilitating than that. More insidious, making those that experience it unable to internalise their achievements and questioning their abilities. They wonder if they even have the right to be in the places that they find themselves, and live in fear of being found out and sent packing.
This experience, this phenomenon is real, and experienced by so many of us. It’s not a female only problem by any stretch of the imagination - it’s something that well over half of us have experienced in some way shape or form and it’s nothing to do with our abilities. In fact, my experience is that often the more able, higher achieving ones can suffer with this on the most regular of bases.
When I meet someone who hasn’t experienced this phenomenon, I am quick to remind myself that they are the unusual ones. In fact, I recently heard a female CEO being questioned about this in a Q&A session. A woman from one of her senior leadership teams bravely opened up about her own journey with this issue, and the CEO responded, much to the disappointment of the questioner, “I’ve always had an innate confidence and assurance in my abilities.” I mean, good for you and all that, (and I really mean that) but that is just not the case for most of us.
I’ve experienced it. You’ve probably experienced it.
Yes, you’ve guessed it, it’s Imposter Syndrome. Or, Imposter Phenomenon, if you prefer.
That feeling that we just don’t measure up, we don’t quite have what it takes, that the people around us know exactly what they are doing and one of these days we are going to fall flat on our faces and they will all see us for our true, incompetent colours.
Why do we feel this way? Who knows. There will be external factors, for sure, such as our childhood, the expectations of others, our background, our culture, our qualifications. But some of it is just because we are human beings that question our capabilities, and that is quite normal for us to do. Wondering if we have what it takes, or whether we are going to measure up, is quite normal for human beings in general.
What’s not OK is when we let those doubts debilitate us.
In this week’s episode of the podcast we talk about this phenomenon in much more detail. I open up about my own experiences and some of the factors that I think have attributed to my own sense of ‘not measuring up’.
We’ll also look at the 5 distinct types of Imposter Syndrome (the work of Valerie Young) to help you work out which is your imposter of choice, and how we can learn to silence the imposter voice inside our heads, gently demonstrating more kindness to ourselves, using a more fact-based approach rather than just the feelings in the moment.
Here’s the good news. In my experience, a little bit of imposter can be a sign of a self-aware leader. We don’t have what it takes, we don’t have all we need. We are fallible, imperfect people who won’t always win, won’t always get full marks and won’t always have what it takes. Nobody does. But what you do have is a unique, brilliant set of gifts and talents that *also* nobody else has. That only you can bring to an environment, that the world needs to see and hear and experience.
You can never be an imposter if you’re only being you.
So, be you, as best as you can be, and take the shot.
Hope you enjoy this weeks episode - click the button below to have a listen