Confronting Imposter Syndrome
(By Elizabeth Tuico) In late 2022, I facilitated a roundtable for the Washington, DC chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services, otherwise known as SMPS DC. We discussed Becoming a Marketing Bada$$: Silencing the Imposter Syndrome Voice in Your Head.
To encourage participation, I promoted the event on LinkedIn. The post received considerable engagement and even sparked a few private messages.
What Is Imposter Syndrome?
Imposter syndrome thrives in both men and women. According to the American Psychological Association, impostor syndrome occurs among high achievers who can’t internalize and accept success. These individuals often attribute their accomplishments to luck rather than ability. The fear that others will eventually unmask them as a fraud looms large in their consciousness. The phenomenon was first described by psychologists Suzanne Imes, PhD, and Pauline Rose Clance, PhD in the 1970s.
Common threads found in men and women who feel like imposters include:
Growing up in families that placed a big emphasis on achievement
Mixed messages from parents that alternate between over-praise and criticism
Bias plays a role with minority groups being more susceptible
More common for people starting a new endeavor
Not surprisingly, impostor syndrome and perfectionism complement one another. It’s common to believe that everything must be done perfectly and asking for help is difficult. These thought patterns usually lead to two outcomes: 1) Procrastination often settles in, pushing an assignment off fearing it won’t be completed to the highest standards, or 2) spending much more time on a task than is necessary.
Five Types of Imposter Syndrome
According to Dr. Valerie Young, five types of imposter syndrome exist:
Perfectionist: How something gets done is the perfectionist’s driver. This includes how the work is conducted and how it turns out. A 99 out of 100 equals failure and shame.
Expert: What and how much you know or can do is valued. Experts expect to know everything. When they don’t, a failure occurs.
Soloist: Who completes the task is the driver. Everything is done alone. Needing help is a sign of failure that evokes shame.
Natural Genius: They care about how and when things happen. Ease and speed are measured. If there is a struggle to master a subject or skill, it’s considered a failure.
Superhuman: Competency is based on how many roles they can both juggle and excel in. Falling short evokes shame because they should maintain the capacity to handle everything perfectly and easily.
Do you recognize any of these imposter syndrome behaviors?
Be That Badass
In our session Becoming a Marketing Bada$$: Silencing the Imposter Syndrome Voice in Your Head, we examined what sparks these feelings and how to control them. Our discussion uncovered these tips:
Recognize and celebrate your strengths: Don’t dwell on your weaknesses. Instead, celebrate what you do well.
Stop focusing on perfectionism: One of the best sayings is perfect is the enemy of good.
Alter the way you think: Mental health professionals encourage clients to gradually chip away at the superstitious thinking that fuels the impostor cycle. Change things up. For example, set a time limit on assignments or ask a friend to proof a document.
Strike a balance between self assessment and criticism: It’s one thing to ponder how something can be better. It’s another thing to continually beat yourself up. Find that healthy balance.
Don’t dwell: Acknowledge what can’t be changed and let it go. Some things can’t be changed, like past events or the outcome of a competition. Try not to dwell on unpleasant experiences and move on. (Easier said than done but worth the effort to change the pattern.)
Reach out for support: Talking to a mentor and getting support from peers are important.
Don’t Underestimate Competency
Impostor syndrome goes beyond a lack of confidence. It’s more about your perception of your own competency. Dr. Young asserts that reframing how we define competency is the way out of the imposter syndrome rinse-and-repeat cycle.
Unconscious rules about what it means to be competent affect most people. This practice usually begins with should, always, or never. I should have known that it would rain. I always know the answer. I’d never make that mistake.
Individuals who feel like impostors hold themselves to unrealistic and unsustainable standards of competence.
Here are some competency fixes for each archetype:
Perfectionist: Break the cycle by handing in something you think is good. Don’t proof it again. Just stop at good enough. No one is error free 100% of the time.
Soloist: Ask someone for help. It’s sounds easy, but for the soloist this is a struggle. Start with a small task and build up from there.
Expert: Try to develop new skills only when needed. Not everyone can speak fluent Mandarin while mentally composing a symphony while preparing Julia Child’s coq au vin recipe.
Natural Genius: Embrace a growth mindset, which asserts that with each effort, you can improve your abilities and skills. It’s okay if something doesn’t come easily.
Superhuman: This archetype tends to be a people pleaser. Try to stop putting an emphasis on what you presume others think about you. Most people respond to authenticity, so just be yourself.
The Takeaway: Set Goals
Everyone occasionally experiences imposter syndrome. So-called imposters put pressure on themselves to work harder. And to some degree, that’s okay. It’s when we take it too far that imposter syndrome starts to wreak havoc on our everyday lives.
We found in our discussion that setting goals promotes a healthy way to move forward. Most will benefit from creating goals to live and work better. According to Psychology Today, a goal is identifying something that you want and finding a course of action to achieve it. This concept differs from a value. A value does not inhabit a specific route. For example, you can value health and make choices that resonate with this value. However, a health goal is to lose 10 pounds by December 31st.
Below are strategies to attain a goal:
Define your goal and craft a goal statement.
Develop a realistic action plan that is specific.
Consider your timeline.
What can you do right now? Start…
Writing down our goals with pen and paper remains the best way to attain them. The Huffington Post wrote about Dr. Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at the Dominican University in California, who studied the art and science of goal setting. Her research found that people become 42% more likely to achieve goals and dreams simply by writing them down on a regular basis:
Just the act of writing down your dreams and goals ignites an entirely new dimension of consciousness, ideas and productivity to the powerhouse that is your subconscious mind.
If you’d like to explore goal setting resources other than the blank notebook, try:
Passion Planner’s Passion Roadmap
Kris Carr’s Results Journal
Conclusion
Changing patterns and behaviors takes work. Imposter syndrome often builds up to a crescendo, so expect to invest time to alter your path. But don’t get discouraged. You can rewire your thoughts to silence the imposter syndrome voice in your head.
Elizabeth Tuico owns Rebel Road Creative, a marketing and content writing consultancy based in Washington, DC.