| Dear Springboard:
I’ve just moved into a bigger job. I’m excited about the promotion but I have these nagging feelings that I don’t deserve it and I will be found out to be lacking.
How do I fix that?
Sign me,
Feeling Like Imposter
Dear FLI:
You nailed it in your signature! You are experiencing imposter phenomenon, or more commonly known as imposter syndrome. More on that distinction later.
Imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern where individuals doubt their accomplishments and have a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud despite evidence of their competence.
It can manifest in various ways, such as feeling undeserving of success, fearing being “found out,” and struggling to accept positive feedback.
Imposter syndrome falls under what I call the large umbrella of self-doubt. Conventional wisdom is it is caused by perfectionism, unrealistic expectations of self and from others.
Similarly, the usual advice for dealing with it lies within the sufferer. The idea is that it is theirs, and theirs to fix.
Suggested strategies might include sharing one’s feelings of self-doubt to break the cycle of secrecy and shame; challenging self-limiting beliefs; owning and celebrating successes rather than attributing them to luck or external factors.
I’ve been aware of this conventional perspective for some time and accepted the idea that I, or anyone else experiencing it, had a problem to solve.
And, enter RJ Jenkins, an educator at Columbia University, with a fresh perspective in his TEDx talk. A friend and coaching colleague Gail told me about him a few weeks ago.
Jenkins starts with distinguishing imposter phenomenon from imposter syndrome because syndrome is technically a pattern of symptoms or behaviors that constitute a disease or condition; and a phenomenon is simply an observable fact or occurrence. A phenom doesn’t pathologize and make the person flawed and culpable.
The concept started out as a phenom and popular use transformed it to a syndrome, with the attendant blame.
Rather than seeing someone experiencing self-doubt, and especially feelings of being fraudulent and fears of being discovered, as a bad thing, Jenkins reframed it.
Jenkins notes that most people have these feelings when they are aspiring to something bigger. It’s about stepping out of their comfort zone, stretching, growing, developing new skills, fitting in with a new group of people.
| So, it’s not about a person being broken and needing to be fixed. Instead, it is the normal discomfort that accompanies change, learning and development. Seen in this light, there is no pathology.
Without the weight of a negative connotation, it can be tolerated as part of growth – yes, somewhat uncomfortable AND a normal and expected part of the process. The honor of a red badge of courage.
The more I think about this perspective the more sense it makes.
Imposter feelings are more common among the most educated and sometimes those who have great accomplishments.
I have led a workshop on emotional intelligence for PhD candidates in the biosciences at a leading university for several years in a row.
Every year, they are surprised, and relieved, to hear that all of their peers share their feelings of being an imposter. Who am I to be at this venerable institution and in this highly competitive academic program?
Reframing is a coaching tool to help clients get unstuck from a myopic, limited perspective and create more choices.
I’m enthusiastic about this reframe as I frequently work with clients who have taken on bigger roles and need to adjust to their new set of responsibilities.
It means more leading vs managing; elevating their executive presence; making their communication briefer and their perspective more strategic; delegating more and more effectively; letting go and operating with incomplete information; and, establishing credibility for themselves in a new group of peers (some of whom may have been superiors until very recently).
Assimilating into bigger roles is a minefield for self-doubt.
While not a panacea, this reframe can replace feelings of being a fraud with recognition of the normal unease of a learning curve.
It’s important because imposter feelings can have profound negative impact on one’s career.
It can lead to underestimating one’s abilities and staying in a role too long; perfectionism and overworking leading to burnout; fear of failure, and success; and generally, stress, anxiety, depression, and feeling unworthy.
With an understanding that some self-doubt comes with growth, this unburdened perspective opens a path to overcome it faster, take away the shame, be more confident, participate more, be appropriately vulnerable, and have greater capacity to innovate.
So, if you find yourself feeling like an imposter, take a look at your circumstances. Are you doing something new, with a new group of people, or any other version of change?
That uncomfortable feeling might just be a good thing – a signal that you’re making an effort to grow, to evolve, to transform your life. As Jenkins said, not broken but becoming.
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