02: How do you know it’s Impostor Syndrome?

A question that very often comes up for women leaders is “what is impostor syndrome”? 

You could very easily confuse it with self-doubt and low confidence. It is important to understand what imposter syndrome is and what it is not, because each of these issues require different sets of tools.

For example, you did an excellent job of that presentation, even the boss complimented you and for a moment there you felt so proud of yourself. But the next day, without warning, out of the blue, you suddenly get a thought – what if that was just a once off?  Could I do pull that off again? 

How do you know if what you are feeling now is either self-doubt, a lack of confidence or imposter syndrome?

How are they different? How do you tell them apart?

That is what we’re going to explore today and also how you can harm yourself if you don’t even know that you’re running imposter syndrome.

Find the full transcript for this episode and other resources for women leaders at https://womenleadersunlimited.com/episode-2-how-do-you-know-its-impostor-syndrome/ 

Juanita is a Transformational Coach for Women Leaders.
She helps women executives in male dominated fields overcome imposter syndrome, gain recognition and claim their space as a true business partner.

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Transcript

A question that very often comes up for women leaders is “what is impostor syndrome”? 

You could very easily confuse it with self-doubt and low confidence. It is important to understand what imposter syndrome is and what it is not, because each of these issues require different sets of tools.

For example, you did an excellent job of that presentation, even the boss complimented you and for a moment there you felt so proud of yourself. But the next day, without warning, out of the blue, you suddenly get a thought – what if that was just a once off?  Could I do pull that off again? 

How do you know if what you are feeling now is either self-doubt, a lack of confidence or imposter syndrome?

How are they different? How do you tell them apart?

That is what we’re going to explore today and also how you can harm yourself if you don’t even know that you’re running imposter syndrome.

While imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and low confidence are all related to feelings of inadequacy, they differ in their underlying causes and how it shows up.

You Should Know The Difference Between Imposter Syndrome, Self-Doubt and Low Confidence

Imposter syndrome is often linked to perfectionism and a fear of failure, while self-doubt can arise from a lack of experience or knowledge. Low confidence, on the other hand, can be caused by a range of factors, including past experiences and social pressures.

In short, self-doubt and confidence – that’s about what you can and cannot do – your skills, your behaviours, your actions. 

Self-doubt can relatively easy be fixed with by mentoring, skills and knowledge related training and work shadowing – these are initiative that improve your skills and over time you become more confident when you’re doing those things where you used to doubt yourself. 

Imposter syndrome is about who we think we are – that is at a much deeper level.

When I did research interviews with HR women leaders for my business, the self-talk that came up for imposter syndrome was:

“Who am I to do that?”

“What if they find out that I am not good enough?”

“What if they realise that I’m a fraud, that I’m faking it? “

“What if they find out I’m not as good as other people or as good as they think I am?”

When they were talking about confidence and self-belief though, it was about what they can or cannot do, it was about their ability to perform in their role. Am I a good leader or speaker?

3 Questions to Determine If You Are Running Imposter Syndrome, Self-Doubt or Low Confidence

There are three questions you can ask yourself to help determine if you are running imposter syndrome, self-doubt, or low confidence:

·         Do you frequently doubt your abilities and feel unsure about your decisions? This may be a sign of self-doubt.

·         Do you struggle to assert yourself or take risks, and feel like you are not capable of achieving your goals? This may be a sign of low confidence.

·         Do you often feel like you’re not good enough, despite evidence of your accomplishments? This may be a sign of imposter syndrome.

The deeper, below the surface conversation is where impostor syndrome is hanging out, at the level where your identity codes are stored. 

It’s the gap between who you see yourself as currently being and who you think you need to be to take action towards your goals and dreams.

And what happens when we have that gap, we use coping strategies. The problem with coping strategies is that they are superficial and only work for a while.

The enormous harm it is causing to you is affecting your performance and your productivity.

You feel that you have to work so much harder which can lead to:

·         burn-out, 

·         anxiety

·         loss of creativity

·         and even quitting. 

What you need to do is the deeper work to allow you to close that gap. And it might be you close it because you shift the way you see yourself and stop judging yourself. It might be that you let go of a block so that you allow yourself to become the version of you that you want to be.

When you close the gap, you conquer imposter syndrome, and there’s no gap between who you think you need to be and who you see yourself as being. 

When you close the gap, you are in charge of your feelings and actions. There’s no need for coping strategies and you get to grow, expand, and thrive so you can lead with courage, confidence, clarity and passion.

In short, imposter syndrome is the fear of others judging you the way you judge yourself. 

So, to truly conquer imposter syndrome, it’s about letting go of all the ways you judge yourself and having processes to allow you to clear out the baggage, so you feel truly comfortable in our own skin.

Be unstoppable! Be unlimited!