Today I’m talking “Imposter Syndrome” sparked by comments from Alix Briden who recently graduated from our Mini MBA for Senior & Executive Assistants Programme,
We’re really proud of the support we provide to our learners and the resulting feedback we receive either on our TrustPilot page or our Learner Success Stories page.
Identfied in extensive research in the 1970s, Imposter Syndrome is now used more widely to describe the feeling that you are a phony in areas of your life, even though you may be excelling at them. You may doubt your skills and abilities and feel like you’re going to be “found out” and exposed as a fraud. The syndrome doesn’t discriminate and can affect every single one of us at some point in our lives (me included!).
It may manifest itself in negative self-talk and you can experience self-doubt, restlessness and anxiety. I love this article from Mind Tools which is pretty straight-talking. Reading this article might actually might make you feel a little better that you’re experiencing Imposter Syndrome too because it’s more likely to be experienced by high achievers.
And the good news is that there are strategies we can use to help with Imposter Syndrome.
I’ve taken MindTools’ 6 strategies and expanded on them with some handy Your Excellency resources:
- Acknowledge your feelings and
- Talk to others
This is backed up by Emotional Intelligence expert Harvey Deutchendorf who claims “putting our feelings out there helps us to manage them as speaking them out loud lessens their impact on us. It also helps us connect and share with others who are feeling the same way. This normalizes what we are feeling and helps us feel connected and supported”.
Head to my article on Emotional Intelligence here to read more. - Develop a quick response plan
Think about things from a different perspective which will give you a more objective view and remove some of the emotional turmoil you may be experiencing. Take the advice of stepping into the shoes of someone else which you read more about here. - Understand your strengths and weaknesses
You already know I’m a huge advocate of regular Personal SWOT exercises. If this isn’t something you’ve ever done, or it’s a while since you did this, set aside 45 minutes to “check in with yourself” today! You can read more here. - Overcome perfectionism
Set realistic goals. For more on goal setting read this.
Hold the belief that “there is no failure only feedback” and read more here.
Use feedback for development. You can read more here and here. - Own your successes
…an example of which is keeping a TADA file! Read more here.
And of course, I’m going to add a seventh strategy here which is:
7. Sign-up to and immerse yourself in one of our learning and development Programmes! Because, as evidenced by Alix’s comment, it can be a real boost to your confidence and self-belief to counter and limit Imposter Syndrome.
I started today’s issue off with the fact that we’re really proud of the support we provide to our learners and I’m going to end with this too. We’d love to have you join us so please do get in touch.
