October 7, 2022

 

If you’re reading this on Friday morning, I may be on stage accepting an award as one of the Albany Business Review's Women Who Mean Business.

 

Here is my face as I type that:

A few weeks back, the ABR hosted a luncheon to allow this year’s award class to meet before today’s event. I made uncomfortable eye contact with my salad as the women around me told stories about leading businesses, solving complex problems, and changing the landscape of our region. 

 

I thought to myself:

 

Self, WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?

 

You’ve felt that way, too, right? Like you are seconds away from being unmasked as the fraud you know you are deep down in your soul?

 

Imposter syndrome is a funny thing that so many of us struggle with. 

 

What is Imposter Syndrome?

 

Imposter syndrome is doubting your skills, talents, or accomplishments even when the evidence suggests otherwise. It’s generally defined as feeling like a fraud and disproportionately affects high-achieving people. 

 

Psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes developed the concept in 1978 as part of a study focusing specifically on high-achieving women. Holla! The study found that “despite outstanding academic and professional accomplishments, women who experience the imposter phenomenon persist in believing that they are really not bright and have fooled anyone who thinks otherwise.”

 

Ha!

 

So many of us feel it. We have a name for it. What do we do about it?  

 

How do you handle imposter syndrome in the workplace?

 

1. Recognize Your Expertise 

 

Quiet your own nonsense by conducting a personal SWOT to identify, without question, what you’re good at. Ask those you trust to help you fill in each bucket. Focus on your strengths and opportunities as much as you do your weaknesses and threats. Use your assessment to build future confidence and self-awareness.

• How can you leverage your strengths to see compounded benefits?
• What steps can you take to improve weaknesses?
• How can you hand off the parts of your job that don’t serve your goals?

You are not expected to be good at everything and do not earn extra points for suffering through tasks that do not advance your career plans. Pruning your list is self-care.

 

2. Build The Case That Shows You Can 

 

As part of your personal SWOT, be diligent about tracking your accomplishments. This includes your wins, significant milestones, and the challenges you have overcome. It’s easier to see future obstacles as bumps in the road vs. something that will knock you on your butt when you have tangible reminders that you’ve been through worse.

 

I’m not a risk taker, but I have immense confidence in my ability to figure out hard things from eras in my life when I haven’t had a choice. Life experience is a superpower. 

 

Collect past reminders of your success. 

• When your boss or manager emails you to recognize your work on a project, save it in a special folder.
• When a colleague sends you a note about you knocking it out of the park, screenshot it and put it in the same folder.
• When your mentor or chief supporter gives you kudos, archive it.

On days when absolutely nothing is going right, and you’re openly crying at your desk, it feels good to have a reminder that this day is not every day. 

 

3. Appoint a Trusted Council for Feedback 

 

You are not the most objective person to critique your work--this is true in both directions. You might love something that someone else wouldn’t cross the street for, or you might be hiding your genius from the world.

 

Find the people whose opinions you trust and who care enough about you to give you honest feedback. Consult them when you doubt yourself. 

 

If I can be this person for you, please reach out. 

 

4. Verify It Is Imposter Syndrome

 

Amber Naslund is the expert on imposter syndrome. Her insights can help you identify if you’re experiencing real imposter syndrome or a reaction to career or personal trauma. 

 

[Note: Amber is a friend to the f-bomb, and her newsletter is her flagship piece of potty mouth. Don’t click the link above if you don’t enjoy colorful language.] 

 

5. Watch Your Language

 

No, not like Amber’s cussing.

 

If your success or the positive words you hear from others make you uncomfortable, reflect on where those thoughts came from and what it means. 

 

Pay attention to the language you use when talking about your accomplishments. 

 

Maybe you’re so good at something, NOT because it’s easy but because you have developed skills in that area due to your hard work. What if your determination and unwillingness to give up--not luck--is what opened doors and created opportunities?  What if you spoke about yourself with the same words you would describe your best work buddy? It could change how you look at your success and yourself.

 

6. Reframe Your Thoughts 

 

Have you ever heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect?

 

It’s a fun principle that says the most confident people are often the most incompetent because they’re too dumb to know how dumb they are.

 

The Dunning-Kruger effect: where the dumbs-dumbs run supreme!

 

The simple fact that you worry about your skill level indicates that you’re doing things well AND that you continue to push yourself out of your comfort zone. You're doing great.

 

7. Do It Scared (⭐ this is the big one)

You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it. -- We Bought A Zoo 

 

I love that movie, and specifically that scene because we all need a little courage sometimes. You will continue to face things that feel impossible. You will doubt your abilities and feel like a fraud. You will feel like everyone else has it figured out.

 

When you're doubting your ability, and you're not sure what to do...

 

Do the thing scared. For yourself and for others. 

• Not doing it discredits the people on your team who believe in you and know that you can. 
• Not doing it is a disservice to those looking to you as their example and for permission that they can do it too. 
• Not doing it is you closing your eyes to the mountain of evidence and prior history that says you can. 

The greatest challenge a mentor bestowed on me was to be the example I needed when I was new. Me being at the table or me doing the thing shows someone else who looks, sounds, or has similar experiences and fears as me that they can do it too. 

 

Do it scared because the world needs you to do what you do well. A little bit of courage will change everything.

 

 

Thanks for reading.  I'll be back in two weeks.

 

(If I make it through this ceremony. 😬 )

 

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