Have you ever…
- felt afraid that someone would discover you weren’t as capable or experienced or accomplished or knowledgeable or [you fill in the blank] as they thought you were?
- had that overwhelming feeling you didn’t belong?
- been afraid you would be exposed as a “fraud” when others found out you were flawed in some way?
I have.
One experience sticks out in my memory. I was fairly new to the coaching profession and had enrolled in a course to become a certified coach for a 360-assessment tool. I had completed the pre-work for the course and had flown to Southern California for the face-to-face portion of the certification training. I was attending with my colleague and was excited for the training experience. The morning had finally arrived.
As I strode into the training room and began meeting a few of the other participants, an overwhelming feeling came over me. My mind was full of thoughts telling me: I didn’t belong. Everyone has much more experience than I do. What if they find out that I don’t measure up? I was fearful. I was frozen. I wanted to crawl into a hole. I didn’t want to be unmasked as a fraud or as incompetent.
Who Experiences Imposter Syndrome?
Chances are you have experienced feelings similar to mine at some point in your life. If that’s so; If you have a hard time accepting or recognizing your success and competence; if, despite evidence to the contrary, you persist in seeing yourself as inadequate and less-competent, you are likely to experience the “Imposter Syndrome.”
Researchers estimate that 70% of us have experienced the Imposter Syndrome *. Imposter Syndrome affects both men and women. It affects all kinds of people from all walks of life and occupations. I have found this to be the case with many of my clients, whether they are first-time managers or executive leaders in their organizations.
How the Imposter Syndrome Can Impact Your Personal Leadership Brand
The Imposter Syndrome can affect your Personal Leadership Brand in many ways. For example, when you are working from a place of fear, it changes the way you treat yourself and how you respond to other people. As a result, your Personal Leadership Brand takes a hit.
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- Perhaps you set extremely high goals in a frenetic effort to prove to yourself and others you are competent. The problem is that one mistake, and you are back feeling like a fraud.
- Perhaps you hold back from taking on responsibilities that would challenge your current capabilities and, in your mind, potentially expose you as a fraud. This stunts your development and prevents the organization from benefiting from your leadership.
- Perhaps you refuse to ask for help when you need it because you don’t want to be seen as weak or incapable. This, again, stunts your development and can put at risk the project you are working on.
Using Your Personal Leadership Brand to Challenge the Imposter Syndrome
In working with my clients, I find that those who internally discount their successes are more likely to experience Imposter Syndrome. This is where Personal Leadership Branding comes in. Personal branding is not merely about you projecting a positive image to others. If that were the case, personal branding would contribute to your experiencing the imposter syndrome.
In its truest sense, Personal Leadership Branding is what you and others believe about yourself. It requires you to examine your doubts and fears so you can put them into a proper context. During this examination you should identify the negative beliefs supporting these emotions of doubt and fear. Once you’ve identified them, you can challenge these negative beliefs and begin the process of replacing them with truer, empowering beliefs. That’s what I did in the certification training. Here’s what happened:
I found that the beliefs at the heart my Imposter Syndrome response were much broader than the moment and beyond feeling accepted by the group of coaching practitioners:
- I believed others in the group would look down on me for my lack of experience
- I believed I might fail at being able to help others in my new coaching practice
Once I realized these were my beliefs playing themselves out as fear, I could look at them straight in the eye and challenge them.
- I believed I could grow and learn, regardless of what others thought of me. Rather than focus on what others might be thinking, I chose to focus on what I wanted to gain as a result of this training. This meant that I would ask questions and volunteer to participate in front of the group. I did not want to be defined by my silence. I wanted to be defined by my engagement. I wanted them to know that I was open to learning. Most of all, I didn’t want to feel boxed in by my fear.
- I believed that, based on past experience, I would find a way to be successful, even if it was only a lessoned learned for myself. Rather than projecting my potential failure into the future, I recalled the times when I faced tough challenges in my life. I remembered times when I was able to overcome or at least move beyond those challenges. I also thought about why I wanted to do this type of work – my “why.” This anchored me in what I was capable of, based on my past experiences—if I did it then, I can do it again now in this new situation—and to my desire to help others discover their strengths and potential.
Remembering these empowering beliefs over and over again, I was able to fully embrace this training experience. I volunteered. I asked questions. I participated. What’s most gratifying is what one participant shared with me at the end of the training. He told me he noticed my initial fear and he saw my behavior change. He told me I had “everything it took” to succeed and wished me well. You see, it didn’t matter if anyone else felt this way. What mattered most was that I grew from the experience. That one person noticed was just an additional gift.
You too may be allowing your fears and the beliefs supporting those fears too much power in your life. Don’t allow yourself to be defined by them. Instead, challenge them. Choose to support beliefs that are true and that don’t presuppose your eventual failure. Choose beliefs that support your path towards growth and discovery. Let these supportive beliefs become the driving force behind your Personal Leadership Brand.
You will likely still experience the Imposter Syndrome from time to time, but you don’t have to live there.
All the best!
Janet
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* (2011) The Impostor Phenomenon. International Journal Of Behavioral Science,6,75.