7 Ways to Never Feel the Imposter Syndrome Again
The imposter syndrome is feeling like you don’t belong at the table, even though there’s good evidence you do.
The imposter syndrome includes nagging fear of being found out.
“I am always looking over my shoulder wondering if I measure up.” Sonia Sotomayor Associate Justice on the Supreme Court USA
You’ve met ignorant posers who pretend to know. We figure out the fringes. Most of the time we learn and relearn as we go. Anything beyond that is illusion.
7 ways to never feel the imposter syndrome again:
#1. Let yourself be seen.
Reject hidden agendas. A hidden agenda forces you to hide.
Practice transparency and vulnerability. Don’t tell everything about yourself. But never pretend you’re someone more than an unfinished painting with plenty of shadows and bright spots.
#2. Always seek the best interest of others.
#3. Live a self-directed life, not a self-centered life.
Healthy people live with a sense of personal responsibility. Never give the helm of your ship to anyone. The life you have today is the life you built.
#4. Live to fulfill an open-hearted mission.
Buildings, growing an organization, owning property, and big bank accounts are offensive unless your mission is people-centric.
#5. Define success in terms of behaviors.
Don’t let artificial goals beat you down. Goals are useful when they distill into daily behaviors.
#6. Focus on moving the agenda forward.
Climb a little higher today. Honor imperfect progress. Start over after you screw up.
A person who can’t start over is doomed to stay the same.
Overcome the imposter syndrome by living a forward-facing life.
#7. Include others on the journey.
An isolated leader is lost. You need others to see yourself.
If you can get there alone, you need higher goals.
How might leaders quiet the imposter syndrome?
More reading:
How to Respond When Team Members Put Themselves Down
Imposter Syndrome: Symptoms, Causes, and Coping
Justice Sotomayor image source
How can leaders avoid the imposter syndrome?
Don’t practice the “fake it, until you make it” philosophy because that leads to the “imposter syndrome.”
Be honest. Admit what you know and what you don’t know.
Ask for help. Acquire the knowledge and skills that you need to “make it.”
Great advice! I hear the “fake it til you make it” so often. I am in an educator role and have had a wonderful opportunity to learn from an extraordinary mentor. I love this admitting that I don’t know everything, but I can ask!
Thanks for, “… but I can ask!” Whining about things we can’t do and don’t know isn’t useful. Learning to do things we can’t do and discovering things we don’t know is leadership.
Thanks Paul, wonderful insight. It’s useful to believe in yourself. It’s destructive to pretend you’re someone you aren’t.
I love the idea and reminder to let yourself be seen, but not all of you. The image of an unfinished painting is great. We are all just works in progress. As the leader of my department, I often feel like I need to know everything, but with a great team around me, I am able to ask questions and we can all learn something new every day. I may still feel like an imposter, I am also becoming more and more comfortable in my flaws!