Imposter Syndrome is a real challenge for many people including myself, you are not alone!
Imposter Syndrome appears to be something we basically do to ourselves at first glance. A closer look into the personal history of people struggling with imposter syndrome shows however that they is always some level of toxic influence that creates an atmosphere in which basically everyone would start to doubt themselves.
Doubting yourself isn’t always a bad thing, I guess, but it becomes a bad thing when you continuously doubt yourself. And it becomes a really bad thing when the anxiety of feeling that you always have to do more and never have done enough starts impacting your entire existence. That is when a healthy grain of doubt turns into a syndrome – the imposter syndrome.
You might be dealing with it yourself, I even believe that everyone will deal with it at one point in time unless they are an imposter. When you are in a leadership role, you might also have people in your team who are dealing with imposter syndrome. Telling them “you are not an imposter” is as helpful as telling someone dealing with depressions that they have no reason to be sad… What you should do it let them feel that they belong. Make them feel they are an essential member of your team and also lead by example by showing that you do not have all the answers and do not know everything. That is why you have a team. Encourage your team to talk about the things they are not good at and express appreciation for learning from each other.
Imposter Syndrome is a real challenge for many people including myself, you are not alone!
If you want to understand what Imposter Syndrome means and how you can change your path, I recommend that you check out the work by Dr. Melissa Sassi!
Dr. ir Johannes Drooghaag – CEO Spearhead Management