Ever feel like you shouldn’t be in the room?
On Fast Company, Melody Wilding recently wrote that “while you may possess skills, training, degrees, and have a track record of accomplishments, you may struggle to attribute your success to your competence. Instead, you dismiss it and credit luck, timing, charm, or even good looks.”
Sound familiar? Yeah, this is what impostor syndrome looks like and the prevalence is staggering.
IMPOSTOR SYNDROME IS THE NORM
And yes, the real news is that the vast majority of high achievers, be they leaders or entrepreneurs, have – or will – experience these symptoms somewhere along their professional path.
Although the data on the prevalence of impostor syndrome vary widely, few of us will escape this affliction.
So, what’s the remedy?
TO BE or NOT TO BE
At the core of impostor syndrome is, obviously, a flawed perception of self. It’s a classic case of a person looking in the mirror and seeing a version that’s 10kg heavier than indicated on the scale.
This explains why the remedies to conquer the impostor phenomenon focus on improving self-perception. Some, like the American Psychological Association, recommend adopting new behaviours. For example, letting go of perfectionism; celebrating successes; and cultivating self-compassion, are strategies the APA suggests to help overcome the anxiety, doubt, and overwhelm generally associated with impostor syndrome.
Alternatively, since self-perception is at play, starting by effecting change in our identity can also be highly effective. And since our identity is as much who we are as who we perceive ourselves to be, intentionally crafting our identity can be a deeply empowering exercise.
We’ve all heard of athletes who aspire to go to the Olympics. At some point, they create an Olympian identity that they replay daily for years. When the alarm rings at 4 A.M., they get up because that’s what Olympians do. When they get disqualified at an event, they train for the next one because that’s what Olympians do. If they trained, optimized their nutrition, and tended to their mental hygiene but viewed themselves as impostors, they would never make it. Identity is key!
Here are 2 approaches to help you overcome impostor syndrome:
- JUST FLIP IT!
We’re not all cut out to be Olympians but none of us are initially cut out to be impostors either. We have a choice. When we no longer want to be – or feel like – an impostor, we simply need to flip into a new identity first.
What – or whom – is it going to be?
Ideally, someone or something we already know ourselves to be or believe we can easily become.
Relabeling is the term I use to help clients change their identity. In the context of overcoming an impostor identity, we might relabel ourselves as one of these:
- an inclusive leader
- a productive executive
- an innovative entrepreneur
- a keen problem solver
- a collaborative team member
- an explorer (for those of us who don’t know who we could be and are willing to search)
Obviously, the new identity must be a flip to a positive view and, again, believable. Otherwise, the itty-bitty-sh*tty committee will launch into an incessant stream of criticism or opposition!
2. NOW, ACT LIKE IT!
With this new label in mind – or on our forehead as in a game of Hedbanz™ – we have a new identity to work with.
Effortlessly, with this fresh cue, the brain spontaneously searches in its neuronal library looking for things an inclusive leader or a productive executive or a …typically does. The behaviours it finds are then subconsciously served up to the prefrontal cortex as possible ways of acting. Once more, we must choose.
The selected behaviours should feel much more authentic because they’re already associated with someone or something we innately perceive ourselves to be. In fact, we might find ourselves doing the same things as before but since we tie the actions to a part of an identity we embrace, gone is the fear of being ‘found out’.
Authored by Marie-Claude Lessard, CEC, PCC, an Executive Coach at FSQ Consulting. An adamant believer that today’s world needs better leaders and entrepreneurs, MC works with individuals whose greatest fear is NOT being, or becoming, that better version of themselves.