Impostor Syndrome: Alive and Thriving
Impostor syndrome still thrives in our corporate halls, even if many of those halls are online.
I almost didn’t write about imposter syndrome. Thousands of people have written about it. Articles, blogs, and videos on the topic fill our channels. But I talked to too many people recently not to bring it up AGAIN.
Here is what strikes me sitting in the executive coach seat vs. the employee seat. Ten times out of ten in my non-scientific research but very real-life experience, the people who feel like impostors are NOT the impostors.
Feeling Impostor Syndrome? You probably are NOT an Impostor.
From the outside in, these people ARE KILLING IT. They are successful. They meet or exceed their goals consistently. They care about their people. AND THEY ARE HUMAN. They also make mistakes, don’t know everything they could know about every aspect of their business, and don’t have all the answers. From the outside in, this humanity makes them exceptional leaders. They have humility. They are always looking to learn. They are open to feedback.
On the other hand, I have met people who SHOULD HAVE IMPOSTOR SYNDROME. That may be a horrible statement. I don’t know. But I met someone recently who was exploring executive coaching because his employees, peers, and leadership had given him some good, specific feedback on his gaps. When we talked, I asked him directly if he thought the feedback he received was valid. “Not really,” he replied.
For real?!!! His need to get his teammates off his back pushed him to search for an executive coach, not a desire to do better. It may be no surprise that he didn’t pick me as his executive coach. THANK THE DEAR LORD.
What Could Be?
We may be overusing the impostor syndrome term because most decent humans feel insecure when they are going for it. No matter what we call it, the sense of not feeling ENOUGH is real and worth addressing. I work on it almost every day myself. It may be a pipe dream, but I wonder what we could do if we put less energy into feeling inadequate and more life force into experimenting to find or enhance the many gifts we each have.
