Do you feel like you’re alone in feeling like an impostor? Does it prevent you from making bold decisions? Speaking up? Pivoting? Admitting mistakes and, in turn, preventing you from learning from them?
Impostor syndrome refers to the experience of believing you’re a fraud. That you aren’t competent to tackle the task at hand, to rise to the challenge before you. That you feel less qualified than others perceive you to be. People experiencing impostor syndrome can feel like they’re “faking it,” which contributes to a fear of being “found out” or rejected. They can overextend themselves and become hyperfixated on making everything perfect. Or they can spiral into analysis paralysis. Moreover, when things do go well, they often attribute that to chance or luck rather than their own skill or effort.
Impostor syndrome is one of the most prevailing fears in the workplace. Unexplored, it can lead to misrepresenting, micromanaging and misalignment — focusing more on appearance than results. Perhaps you have an important board meeting coming up, and there are unpleasant concerns to discuss. Perhaps you’re feeling overwhelmed at work but are hesitant to ask for help. Or, maybe you’re just not sure about your product market fit strategy, but are anguishing from impostor syndrome and feel too afraid to say anything.
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