I was walking through the woods, listening to a rebroadcast of a webinar about “imposter syndrome” when one of the panelists asked this question: Who is your imposter?
If you aren’t familiar with it, imposter syndrome is that feeling that you’re not quite good enough, that you don’t belong – and that someone is about to “out” you as a fraud. First coined in 1978, it’s often associated with high-achieving women. You probably know these women. They’re educated, they hold good jobs and they’ve done well in their chosen professions. They’re humble about their success; they were lucky, they might tell you. But what they may not tell you is they’re terrified of being “found out”.
As workplaces focus on diversity and inclusion, we often look at how to promote women. Studies that women won’t apply for a position unless they have 100% of the skills, where their male co-worker will figure he’ll learn what he doesn’t know on the job.
But back to the imposter. I definitely understand imposter syndrome – I’m always slightly scared that someone will figure out that I don’t know as much as they think I do. So when the panelist in that webcast asked the question, and invited us to name our imposter, I was intrigued. As she explained it, she had an imposter on one shoulder, and a cheerleader on the other – think of it like the angel and devil.
This was easy for me to understand. My imposter bears my childhood name. She’s a self-conscious, slightly geeky, never-quite-wears-the-right-clothes girl, who always seems to be just on the outside looking in. And she whispers in my ear at the most inopportune times, reminding me that I am her. That I’ve gotten to where I am through complete happenstance. She makes me question myself on a somewhat regular basis.
When I went to university, I squeaked into a great program, and studied next to people who I knew would do great things. I was in awe of them and wondered how I managed to keep up. Its 30 years ago that we graduated, and old friends are using the power of FaceBook to knit us all back together. It’s been fascinating catching up, and I am still in awe of my classmates, who did indeed, go on to do great things.
My entire working career has been in highly sophisticated science-based technical industries, working with super-smart people – truly experts in their fields. As their Communications support, my job has always been to make their work understandable to Joe and Jane Average. As I matured in my career, I began advising these super-smart people on communications strategies and guiding them in telling their stories to clients, publics, employees and governments. Not a small feat, and I’ve learned a lot of science along the way. I am pretty good at what I do, but still, there’s that niggling doubt.
This is all a long-winded way of saying it’s important to surround ourselves with people who don’t think we are imposters. People who share our values and beliefs. Who believe in us and who go out of their way to make sure we know – and that others around us know – when we are shining. And then we need to do the same with the people around us. Because anyone can get too far into the weeds of our lives – be it at home, with friends or with colleagues – to understand that what we’ve accomplished is not just ordinary. We’re all superheroes at something. We deserve to understand that, and to kick the imposter to the curb.
