10 Ideas to Manage your Imposter Syndrome

Morning Leaders,

This week I collaborated with my team on Imposter Syndrome and we got vulnerable and shared our own experiences.

I learned a lot and uncovered some insights I didn’t know about from their own experiences.

This meeting helped me and the team in 2 important ways:

1) Openness - we had an open conversation about a topic that impacts all of us, we made it front and centre. Some topics or uncomfortable areas don’t get surfaced enough when we can learn a lot from one another, and just realising other people experience the same thing generally makes us feel a lot better and less alone.

2) Vulnerable - when our people are more vulnerable with each other they don’t just learn a lot but also build bigger and more trusting relationships. They now feel more comfortable talking about this topic or similar moving forward. Also naturally when people feel Psychologically Safe and trust their team, they bring more of themselves, their energy, and their creativity into the conversation.

What is Imposter Syndrome?

If you’ve not experienced Imposter Syndrome in your career, you will. Whether it’s on a Sunday night, or a return from holiday, or starting a new role. It impacts everyone.

How do we work through the feeling of being an Imposter?

1) Open Dialogue - talk to other leaders, you’ll be surprised that everyone has struggled with self-doubt and fear that they’re not good enough before. Realising you’re not alone will help you recognise it’s part of your ongoing career.

2) Win List - create a win list. This is a list of all your achievements today which you can reflect on to help you to track your progress and see how far you have come.

3) Turn Up - this is what got me through a new role, I had come from a place of comfort. I was super uncomfortable in a new role. But I knew this discomfort would subside, but only if I continued to turn up. I had to continue turning up every day, and over time it got easier and my confidence grew. Every time you turn up and complete a day at work you’re investing in your own belief bank. Investments compound.

4) Mentors - speak to your Mentor or Coach. Lean on their experience, how did they handle it and what worked for them. Tap into their experience, someone 10-15 years ahead of you in their career will have a lot of wisdom and inspiration to share.

5) Your Leader - having a conversation with your leader can really help. They can call out all the good work you’re doing or how you’re contributing to the team and organisation.

6) Practice - when you are learning a new skill or starting a new role, of course, you’re going to suck at first and get things wrong. It’s totally normal to doubt yourself as you’re seeing slow progress as you begin to learn the ropes. At times embarrassment is the cost of entry, but with repetition, feedback, and a desire, you can master anything. This focus on practice and getting better helps you see progress, when we’re progressing we feel more comfortable and content.

7) Get Uncomfortable - by doing things repeatedly that get us outside our comfort zone we begin to build more trust and belief in ourselves. Each time we face our fear we build courage and confidence in ourselves.

8) Who you’re becoming - we’re always learning and growing, and the landscape is evolving. You’re also not going to be the same person in 3 months as you are now. You’re going to acquire new skills, experiences and perspectives. Recognising you’re in growth mode and these feelings of doubt are part of the ramp will help.

9) Be Kind - we can all be hard on ourselves from time to time. But remember when you’re starting out at something new you’re a beginner. It’s going to take time to learn new things and acquire new skills. All masters started as a beginner at one point, it starts with the first few steps.

10) Future State - visualisation is powerful. Imposter Syndrome is how we feel in the present. Visualising who we want to become and what our Future Self will look like helps us focus on moving forward, rather than the present.

Hope some of these ideas help, but most importantly speak to your trusted colleagues and peers. It’s totally normal to feel this way and it definitely gets easier as you grow into a new role or recognise when it’s creeping up on your again.

Hope this helps.

David

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Resources Of The Week

• TedTalk - Dan Pink - Puzzle of Motivation - Dan talks about the misconception of human motivation. Specifically how extrinsic motivation doesn’t work, and why intrinsic motivation does. Very insightful and touches on a number of points from his bestseller Drive.

• Learning Management System - LinkedIn Learning - Previously known as Lynda and re-branded a few years ago as LinkedIn Learning. This is a superb online learning platform covering courses in loads of topics including Leadership, Customer Service, and Personal Development. A lot of businesses are now adopting an external trusted learning platform to provide opportunities for employees to work on their professional development within working hours.

• Assessments - MindTools - the folks at MindTools have loads of different assessments including Decision Making. I’ll ask one of my team to complete an assessment and we’ll then have a follow-up conversation on the outcomes to review how they think and consider the different scenarios, through questions and our conversation we can then elevate their Critical Thinking skills.

Quote of the Week

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