Overcoming Imposter Syndrome in Our Careers

We are discussing Imposter Syndrome today, a commonly widespread psychological phenomenon that affects many of us, particularly in our professional lives. It’s something that tends to arise throughout a career and which can influence the way one perceives their accomplishments and abilities leading to lack of confidence and potentially hold us back from realising our full and true potential.

Imposter Syndrome is a psychological pattern where individuals doubt their achievements and have a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a “fraud.” Despite evident success or external validation, those experiencing this syndrome are convinced that they do not deserve what they’ve achieved and attribute their success to luck, timing or deceiving others into thinking they’re more intelligent or competent than they believe themselves to be.

From the outside looking in, they appear confident and successful, doing the work day to day and fulfilling the obligations of a job role. However inside they constantly feel like they are wearing a mask, pretending to be someone they weren’t, terrified that at any moment, people would see through the disguise. As Imposter Syndrome is increasingly being discussed and awareness of the phenomenon spreads through the workforce, I found that I wasn’t alone in this struggle and you aren’t either.

For most affected by this thought pattern, it begins early in life, reinforced by a family environment that rewards achievements and overlooks efforts usually in the form of school projects, tests and assignments. The constant pressure to excel created a belief that one’s worth was tied to their accomplishments, the sole outcome of the effort and not the effort itself. This belief follows you into your professional life, manifesting as Imposter Syndrome.

Imposter Syndrome can significantly impede our career growth. It breeds self-doubt, anxiety and paradoxically often leads to overworking as we try to ‘prove’ ourselves. It blinds us to our true potential and worth, causing us to shy away from opportunities and undervalue our contributions, creating a mental block in our own head that prevents us from seizing opportunities that we see ourselves as unprepared for.

In my experience dealing with Imposter Syndrome, I declined leadership roles out of fear that I wouldn’t meet expectations. I avoided voicing my ideas during team meetings, anxious that they wouldn’t be valuable. This not only hindered my professional growth but also prevented me from fully expressing and realizing my potential.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome is not a simple on-off switch we can press. It’s a life-long and career-long journey that requires patience, self-love and continuous effort. Here’s 5 techniques to manage and overcome Imposter Syndrome.

The first step in overcoming Imposter Syndrome is recognizing it. For the first few years out of university and entry into the corporate world, I didn’t know what I was experiencing had a name and was not that unusual. Once I acknowledged my feelings and could see I was truly only holding myself back in maintaining this way of thinking, I was able to better understand and address the roots of feeling like an imposter.

Make a habit of reflecting on your accomplishments regularly, big or small, as well as the efforts and contributions you are making to your development and the job you’re assigned. Write them down in a journal or document as you achieve them so when you look back 6 or 12 months from now you have a list of work you’ve done that represents a knowledgeable, competent worker. Start keeping a ‘brag file,’ a list of all your accomplishments and work, which you can refer to whenever self-doubt creeps in around your work, which is additionally perfect for end of year appraisals where management reviews work performance and a solid piece of evidence to support any claims for promotion or pay rises.

Imposter Syndrome often stems from comparing ourselves to others. We can view anyone deliver quality work or present well and be enamored by their competence but have no insight into their way of thinking. Perhaps they too struggle with Imposter Syndrome and therefore comparison is futile and misleading. Your journey is unique to you, your education, skills and lifetime of personal events and experiences all make you unique and able to bring a different perspective than others. Focus on your growth, improving day by day and don’t let someone else’s progress, competence or perceived success diminish your self-worth.

While overcoming Imposter Syndrome can be challenging, it’s essential to our personal and professional growth. By tackling it head-on, we can shed the heavy cloak of self-doubt and step into our true potential.

My journey with Imposter Syndrome continues to this day and requires ongoing deliberate effort to overcome. With each step forward in my career, I’m learning to appreciate my worth, believe in my competence and unique abilities more authentically.

I hope my story inspires and encourages you to confront your own Imposter Syndrome and the methods we provided to overcome it are put into action and you no longer see yourself as an imposter but worthy of your success.

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