The issue of imposter syndrome continues to grow in workplaces around the world with long-term side effects of anxiety, overworking, burnout, and depression. In order to take the lead in building a culture of trust and choice, you’ll need to let go of imposter syndrome and find your confidence.
What Is Imposter Syndrome?
The primary feelings associated with imposter syndrome include incompetence and lack of confidence to fulfill the role in front of you. Despite having the necessary qualifications, you may feel that you got a “lucky break,” or you can’t replicate that success in your next position.
Imposter syndrome shows up most frequently for women in male-dominated fields, but almost everyone has felt this way at some point -- whether you’re just starting out at a new university or were recently promoted to a C-Suite position.
Causes of Imposter Syndrome:
One major cause for imposter syndrome is a highly critical upbringing. Your family may not have acknowledged your accomplishments appropriately, and you never felt you did enough to earn their approval. They may have downplayed awards or successes by saying “you got lucky” instead of pointing towards your preparation.
Another cause is the constant comparison to friends on social media. You may be thinking, “Success comes easily to everyone else, and it’s hard for me because I’m unqualified.” But in reality, you don’t know how hard the others are working. Too much comparison to others and not enough listening to others often leads to feelings of incompetence.
Starting a new role or attending a new school often leads to imposter syndrome. But this one is understandable -- you are new and not expected to know everything on the first day. Look for growth each day and remember you do have a learning curve in the beginning.
How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome within Yourself
You might find it helpful to journal through the possible causes for imposter syndrome in your personal history. Whether or not you’ve identified the cause of your imposter syndrome, you should begin overcoming it today!
List Your Qualifications
If you recently started a new role, you may need to remind yourself of your qualifications for the job. While a new job is meant to be a challenge, you met the qualifications in order to get it.
If you face imposter syndrome when leading a project on a team or starting an assignment, you might find it helpful to list the previous successful projects you’ve completed. If you’ve done it before, you can do it again! Even if you haven’t done this exact process before, you’ve overcome other challenges that prove you can handle this one.
You probably use the same process to encourage your children: reminding them of all the other tests they’ve taken or recitals they’ve performed that prove they can overcome this next one. Time to apply that to yourself!
Recognize Your Accomplishments Each Day
At the end of the day, you still might feel like “luck” got you to success. To counter this, keep track of what you actually accomplish each day. Even just crossing off a to-do list demonstrates you’re making real progress towards a goal.
Combatting imposter syndrome involves properly acknowledging your hard work each step of the way. Luck didn’t earn that promotion for you: you took small actions each day and that led to expertise in your position. And if you need a reminder, you can flip through your planner to see each one of those small actions.
Focus on Your Mental Health & Self-Care
Imposter Syndrome is a mental health issue, and you need to battle it with proper sleep and exercise. After a good night’s rest, you’ll be able to see your skills and competency more clearly. Additionally, you’ll be able to produce better work when you’re getting better sleep.
Many times, imposter syndrome leads to overworking in order to prove yourself, but the way to do your best work involves giving yourself breaks and opportunities for creativity. Self-care may be as simple as taking a walk to clear your head during the work day, but you’ll need to learn the best way to replenish your energy to get results each day.
Do You Need More Knowledge?
Occasionally, we feel like imposters because we are. There may be a point in your career where you realize you need more training in order to grow into a new role. This could be a simple online course, or asking a coworker to walk you through a new software platform.
Don’t use your lack of knowledge as a reason to back out of a new opportunity. Take initiative to learn the skill and implement quickly. You should never be embarrassed to ask for help or clarification: this only perpetuates imposter syndrome within the workplace, when you could be leading with transparency and honesty.
Moving Forward with Confidence
Seth Godin reminds us that whenever we try something new, technically we are imposters. “Time spent fretting about our status as impostors is time away from dancing with our fear, from leading and from doing work that matters,” Godin says.
If we’re all imposters at some level, then we all need to move on if we’re going to get any work done.
Continue the conversation with us over on social media! Not only does SWAY host weekly Facebook Lives, we also offer free consultations to start building a flexible culture of trust within your workplace. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn or send us an email to get started: hello@swayworkplace.com.
Photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash