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of mind marketing manager Rebecca
Kelly, 35, knows all too well. “I have
10 years’ experience on advising people
how to improve a brand’s reputation.
But when I’m asked to sell myself, even
writing a CV, I fall short because I simply
think anything I do is a hoax.”
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Positive reinforcement fails to make
a dent. “A few years ago I submitted
some article ideas to a national
newspaper,” says advertising executive
Laura James, 36. “But not even seeing
my name in print was enough to make
me think I had achieved something
significant. Instead I just looked at the
article and thought, ‘Someone is going
to write in and say why have you
published this rubbish?’ I felt that
I would be found out at any moment.”
As well as unrealistic expectations,
the way we are raised is another key in
IS says Young. “If you were born into
a family where you come home with
four As and one B and your parents say
‘What is the B doing there?’ you get
taught very young to be a perfectionist.
Always being praised for being smart
means you get invested in being smart.
Any threat to that is stressful.”
Indeed, academics Carina Sonnak
and Tony Towell surveyed British
university students and found that
those whose parents were more
controlling and protective scored higher
on a measure of imposterism.
Doyle-Morris points to the impact
of gender differences in childhood
socialisation. “There is good research
that girls are taught to externalise good
things to luck, while internalising
negative things. So if a girl did well at
a test, the material was easy and the
teacher was inspiring. If she did badly,
the fault is hers for not working hard
enough. Boys are the exact opposite.”
Even in the playground, girls are
taught the dangers of crediting their
intelligence. “How popular is the girl
who tells everyone how great she is?
That same situation plays out in the
workplace. Even formidable women
attribute success to luck and great
mentors, while a man might claim the
credit for smart choices and hard work.”
Early trauma can also play a role.
James traces her IS back to the fact
that she was bullied at school, “I was
picked on for being overweight.
Because no one wanted to hang around
with me, I didn’t feel worthy and I didn’t
feel any of my achievements were
worthy either. Ever since I’ve felt that I
have only achieved things by default.”
“WOMEN HAVE BEEN DESIGNED
TO FEAR REJECTION AND
DISAPPROVAL MORE THAN MEN”
Evolutionary psychologists Dr Satoshi
Kanazawa and Dr Kaja Perina, writing in
Psychology Today, looked to human
evolution to explain why so many
women are IS sufferers. While men
stayed within their own group and had
to only accept criticism from their own
family, women married into a different
group, and had to face criticism from
biological strangers. The result?
“Women have been evolutionarily
designed to fear rejection and
disapproval much more than men.”
OFFICE IMPOSTER
So what is the impact of IS on your
career? Doyle-Morris says it can vary,
DO�YOU�HAVE�
IMPOSTER�SYNDROME?�
Answer yes or no to the following questions by Dr Valerie
Young. Three or more and you might suffer from IS
Do you secretly worry others will find out that you’re
not as bright and capable as they think you are?
Do you sometimes shy away from challenges because
of nagging self-doubt?
Do you tend to chalk your accomplishments up to being
a ‘fluke’ or ‘no big deal’?
Do you hate making a mistake, being less than fully
prepared or not doing things perfectly?
Do you tend to feel crushed by even constructive
criticism, seeing it as evidence of your ‘ineptness’?
“Some women with IS don’t want to
apply for a better job, because if they
get it they are increasing the risk of
failing and being exposed. So IS
undermines confidence and makes
women feel less entitled to ask for pay,
flexible working or other perks.”
It is a situation company director
Kate Russell, 33, recognises. “I definitely
self sabotage, failing to close a pitch or
not following up properly. I guess I’m
giving myself a reason not to get the
job, because if I did succeed I would
be over reaching, would open myself
up to failure and be exposed.”
Logically she knows that there is
no evidence of her being a fraud. “If
I was someone else looking at me
I would think, ‘She has done brilliantly
well to set up her own business.’ I know
this belief stands in my way and is
holding me back,” she explains.
But, for some women, IS has another
outcome. “Paradoxically, imposter
feelings can often prompt people
to over-prepare, and thus they out-learn
and out-perform their competitors,”
says Susan Pinker, developmental
psychologist and author. “Those with
IS are often talented even if they don’t
admit it to themselves and they work
hard. Talent, plus devoted hard work
are a recipe for success.”
There is data to support this.
American psychologists Shamala
Kumar and Carolyn Jagacinski found
that women with the highest scores on
a test of Imposter Syndrome were also
the most eager to prove themselves in
a competition. They differed from the
men in the comparison group insofar
as the feelings of self-doubt prompted
the men to withdraw from a contest
they weren’t certain they’d win. In
women with IS, self-doubt propelled
them forward.
For Watts, now an award-winning
gift designer with her own company
2littleboys.co.uk, it was the birth
of three children in one year that
brought the IS cycle to an abrupt end.
“It just made me face up to the fact that
I really didn’t know anything. I admitted
it and stopped worrying about it, and
I think that’s the key. Now I love the
process of learning, I love being
ignorant. I love asking people to explain
everything to me so that I can
understand and assimilate the
information into general wisdom. And
my career? Now, I think I’m fabulous.”
How can you take the first step
to overcome IS and start believing in
your achievements? “The bottom line,”
says Young, “is that you are not alone,
you are not crazy, and there are
perfectly good reasons why you feel
this way. You can spend years in
therapy, but for me overcoming IS was
about redefining what it means to be
competent. Making mistakes is good
– life is a learning process.”
IMPOSTER SYNDROME
7 STEPS
TO BEATING
THOSE
FRAUDULENT
FEELINGS,
by Dr Valerie Young
1
Separate feelings from
fact There are times
you’ll feel stupid. It happens to
everyone but just because you
feel stupid, doesn’t mean you are.
2
Recognise when you
should feel fraudulent
If you’re one of the few women
in your field, it’s only natural
you’d sometimes feel like you
don’t totally fit. Instead of taking
your self-doubt as a sign of your
ineptness, recognise that it might
be a normal response.
3
Accentuate the positive
Perfectionism can indicate
a healthy drive to excel. The
trick is to not obsess over
everything being just so. Do
a great job when it matters most.
Forgive yourself when the
inevitable mistake happens.
4
Right the rules If you’ve
been operating under
misguided rules like, ‘I should
always know the answer’ or
‘Never ask for help’, start
asserting your rights. Recognise
that you have just as much right
as the next person to be wrong,
have an off-day, or ask for help.
5
Develop a new script
Your script is the automatic
inner voice that starts playing in
situations that triggers your IS
feelings and makes you feel
unworthy. When you start a new
job or project, instead of thinking
for example, ‘Wait until they find
out I have no idea what I’m doing’,
try thinking, ‘Everyone who starts
something new feels off-base in
the beginning. I may not know
all the answers but I’m smart
enough to find them out.’
6
Visualise success Do
what professional athletes
do. Spend time beforehand
picturing yourself making a
successful presentation. It beats
picturing impending disaster
and will help with performancerelated
stress.
7
Act ‘as if’ We all have to
fly by the seat of our pants.
Instead of considering winging it
as proof of your downfall, learn
to do what many achievers
do and view it as a skill.
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