How to transform the negative effects of Imposter Syndrome into positive growth.

Imposter Syndrome or the signs of Imposter Syndrome show up time and time again when coaching. In this Newsletter I want to provide you with a clear understanding of what Imposter Syndrome is and with some tools and strategies for mitigating it's hold on you and your teams so you can achieve ultimate success.

First up let's tackle what Imposter Syndrome is. I am sure you have heard of it, but may not know how it is defined and what that can look like in the day to day.

'Impostor syndrome also known as impostor phenomenon is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalised fear of being exposed as a "fraud".'

Imposter Syndrome or Imposter Phenomenon was coined in the 1970’s by Pauline Rose Clance through a study focused on successful women. Unsurprisingly this lead to the association of Imposter Syndrome being a Women's issue. While early research focused on the prevalence among high-achieving women, impostor syndrome has since been recognized to affect both men and women equally.

For many their experience of Imposter Syndrome shows up as self doubt, for others it is a very real fear of being found out. That they have been given the job, promotion, speaking engagement by mistake and at any moment someone will come along and let them know.

At best Imposter Syndrome encourages a healthy level of self awareness, at worst it scares people out of going for jobs, putting their ideas forward and generally making themselves smaller.

Imagine if you were to no longer feel fear in your work... what could you accomplish?

There are so many times in a career when Imposter Syndrome can make an appearance, and when in a commercial role there are extra opportunities for elements of Imposter Syndrome to be experienced. I will share with you a story if I may…

When I moved from working in the travel industry organising gap years, to the learning & development industry using software to establish coaching cultures, I experienced what I now know to be Imposter Syndrome.

I was under huge amounts of pressure to perform, not only as a new starter but because redundancies were on the table.

The role involved speaking to Directors to build rapport and open up a conversation about their business challenges and strategic goals from a cold call. A huge step change from discussing the best route to take through Asia on a gap year! Looking back, it is no wonder I felt those negative feelings but they weren't helping me improve. What helped me break the cycle and start to become successful….? Coaching did.

Spending time talking about my fears, anxiety, the pressure I was under and then being challenged on what I needed to do to move on is what I needed. I soon understood that the power to change sat with me, and we worked to shift from focusing on the outcome/goal of appointments and created KPI’s around the system that would help me succeed. The main one being effective conversations. That shift in mindset was transformational for me, and the qualified appointments soon started to get booked in for the business development team. *9

Let's play a game of Bingo... how many of the below signs of Imposter Syndrome have you experienced???

For me most of these have resonated at different times in my career. How about you? How about your team? (Feel free to use this in your next team meeting)

Data from a survey by Hub Events of 1,000 UK adults with at least 3 years of experience in their field, gives insight into how widespread the issue really is:

• 85% of UK adults feel inadequate at work

• 48% Admitted to experiencing intrusive thoughts

• 19% Worry that one day their boss or colleague will realise they are underqualified

Traditionally Imposter Syndrome / Confidence ‘help’ has looked to fix the women who experience it. 'There is something about you, that you need to change….' However, s

igns of Imposter Syndrome are very common, and there is nothing wrong with you if you experience it.

‘Harvey (1981) asserted that anyone can view themselves as an impostor if they fail to internalise their success and this experience is not limited to people who are highly successful.’ – International Journal of behavioral science

If we were to agree that Imposter Syndrome is a common experience, it shows up for many at any time, and arguably shows you are pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.…. Maybe Imposter Syndrome isn’t a problem that needs to be fixed, but a symptom of a wider issue? Negative company cultures. When looking at cultures that foster imposter syndrome what are the common traits…?

• Blame culture

• Pressure

• Overworking

• Never celebrate success

• Presence of fear

Solutions

What can you be doing to create a culture that encourages safe discussion, making mistakes, celebrating success and setting habits that put you on course for success?

The HubSpot survey also explored some potential solutions from their 1,000 responders.

What do these solutions all have in common…..? Talking.

Talking is the number one solution, which can come in many forms. Feedback, Mentoring, Coaching, Praise (of colleagues or self). However, when it comes to having these discussions they need to be in a safe space, free of judgement, which is not always easy to accomplish, especially when the pressure is on and the day job needs to get done!

I therefore wanted to give you something that you can use either in a team environment, a 121 or on yourself. The tool can be used either when you are experiencing Imposter Syndrome, you notice it in a colleague or you are aware that something in your team/business is happening that could be the trigger for some Imposterism coming to knock on the door.

Accessing Resourcefulness Grid

The purpose of sharing this tool, and getting you thinking about how you could use it… is to empower you to have an effective and productive conversation on someone's key challenges or fears in a positive and safe way.

My challenge to you is to create a set of questions for each quadrant for a project or dilemma you are working through yourself.

• Before you start make a note of how you are feeling about this particular project.

• Create up to 3 questions for each quadrant.

• As you start to go through your questions, create an action plan of what you will be doing next to move things along.

• Finally, check in with yourself again to see if your feeling towards the project has shifted at all.

How could you use this with a member of your team in a 121?

I would love to know how you get on with both the challenge, and your Bingo score.

If you would like any further insights into how others have used this tool with their teams and how to open up these conversations let me know, I would love to share my tips and example questions with you.

Beth

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