Imposter Syndrome

 

 Do you think that your work must be 100% perfect, 100% of the time? Or that you haven’t truly earned your position? Does your confidence take a plunge when you suffer a setback? 

You are not alone. 70% of the U.S. population has experienced this feeling, which is known as impostor syndrome. 

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, impostor syndrome is commonly understood as a false and sometimes crippling belief that one’s successes are the product of luck or fraud, rather than skill. 

Now that we understand what imposter syndrome is, let’s review the five types of imposter syndrome: 

1. 1. The Perfectionist: The perfectionists set exceedingly high goals for themselves. When they fail to accomplish that goal, they experience self-doubt and worry about measuring up. Success for them is rarely satisfying because they think could’ve done even better. 

2. One way to manage the Perfectionists is to remind them that mistakes are a part of the process and progress is more important than perfection. 

3. 
   

3. 2. The Superwoman/Man: The Superwomen/men are addicted to the accolades and validation of working, rather than the actual work itself. This constant workload potentially harms their mental health, as well as their working relationships. 

4. One approach to managing Superwomen/men is to help them find their own internal validation and reframe failures as learning opportunities. 

5. 
   

5. 3. The Natural Genius: Natural Geniuses judge their competence based on the ease and speed of doing a task, rather than the efforts involved. They feel ashamed if they take a long time to master something because they believe they should get things right the first time. 

6. 
   

6. The Natural Genius needs help seeing that success is made of many small steps over time. Remind them to celebrate the small accomplishments which are a part of the bigger goal. 

7. 
   

7. 4. The Soloist: Soloists feel that asking for help reveals their faults so prove their worth by refusing assistance. 

8. 
   

8. One antidote is asking Soloists to work in team environments, showing them that each team member has a unique set of skills to learn from. 

9. 
   

9. 5. The Expert: The Experts measure their competence on the basis of “what” and “how much” they know or can do. They believe they will never have enough knowledge and will eventually be exposed as inexperienced and lacking skills. 

10. 
    

10. The Experts benefit from realizing that no one knows every answer and there is always more to learn. 

11. 
    

Organizational Role in Imposter Syndrome 

We’ve discussed the individual aspects of imposter syndrome. How does organizational culture contribute to imposter syndrome? 

Organizational norms and behaviors can add to imposter syndrome. Some examples include working environments where praise is never given and leaders expect perfection, so employees feel that they constantly need to prove themselves. Another example is employee favoritism. 

Here are a few tips to handle imposter syndrome in your organization: 

• Keep reminding team members that they are competent enough for the roles assigned to them. 
• Avoid comparisons between team members and focus on the values each team member brings to the team. 
• Shift the focus from performing to learning and reframe failure as a learning opportunity. 

• 
  

Instead of hiding behind the fears of failure, we all need to face them, overcome them, and learn from them. The best way to defeat the imposter syndrome is to change the workplace environment. 

How often have you encountered imposter syndrome? How were you able to move forward? Share your thoughts and leave your comments below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter. 

Subscribe To Our Newsletter 

 

 

Discovering Diversity Success: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself

 

By Jessica Alvarez, Chief Management Officer

A few years back, I was yearning for a community to embrace me, a tribe that would understand and respect that I’m not just a few general categories of a person, including female, Latina, mother. I needed a community outside of my corporate life that understands that the indigenous roots in me are not only from the Americas but can be traced back to slave trafficking from Africa to the coasts of the Caribbean, central and south America. My grandmother’s knowledge of the use of roots, herbs, and plant medicine has been passed down the generations through song and story.

In my search for such an embracing community, I found Centro Ashe, now the Wild Ginger Center in Washington D.C., which shares, protects, respects, and promotes the connections between plants, earth, and people. I enrolled in their training program to spark and renew the love and knowledge of plants I had in me.

Yes, it sounds very urban hippy, right? The first day I was amazed to be surrounded by an astonishingly diverse group of people, all coming together to learn and share experiences. Here, I didn’t need the emotional and mental protective walls I habitually built around me.

With my corporate and human capital lens, I tried to analyze the reasons for such “diversity success.” They didn’t use a sophisticated recruiting system with algorithms tweaked to maximize diversity. The curriculum was the same for everyone. The setting was a barn on a small farm. Yet, the diversity success was evident with race, ethnicity, creed, preferences, identities, age, careers, education, and social-economic levels all in one room, ready to learn. Everyone showed up with a smile and open to an embrace. Cell phone connection was awful, the conversation was great, and we all had meals together where we learned about each other’s families, interests, and even dreams. It struck me how different this was from work and school settings. Although there was a lot to learn and do, there was ample room for each person’s personality and voice to shine equally. They organically met the diversity and customer loyalty aspirations of the corporate world.

After months of enjoying the camaraderie, I concluded that the Wild Ginger Center’s secret ingredient for their diversity success is the kindness and respect that runs through its core. Empathy and respect not only for the plants and the earth but for people. Each person that walks into the center is unique, respected, acknowledged, encouraged, and celebrated for showing up as who they are.

By the time the workshops concluded, I had acquired lifelong friends, carpool mates, herb/veggie exchange buddies, but most importantly, I found the tribe I yearned for. I belonged.

Can we translate this success to the corporate world? Yes! Below are my top 10 questions to ask yourself.

1.    Is your mission clear?

2.    What is the human connection to your work (the back story of why we do what we do)?

3.    Are people working with a purpose?

4.    Is everyone’s uniqueness equally celebrated and acknowledged beyond the basic categories?

5.    As employers, are we creating safe spaces for team members to connect beyond transactional tasks?

6.    Does each employee feel encouraged to grow, to say, to be?

7.    Does every employee feel free to show up as who they are (i.e., my big curly hair vs. straightened hair, my ethnic wear vs. pantsuits and heels)?

8.    Is respect and compassion part of your corporate vocabulary?

9.    Is diversity even valuable to your corporate goals?

10. Are you aware of your company’s diversity standing?

I can help you start diversity conversations too. I’m pleased to announce DEI360, an organization’s starting point for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI). It’s an easy, customizable, online assessment that quickly allows organizational leadership to see how they’re doing from the employee’s perspective. Once an organization takes the assessment,( our team walks through the final report giving clear DEI data, a snapshot of the internal DEI landscape, and actionable next steps. Have questions? Check out our FAQ or contact us directly.

 

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

Subscribe To Our Newsletter