You’re feeling like an imposter in your brand strategy career. How can you overcome it?

Recognize the feeling, but challenge it. Focus on your accomplishments and remind yourself that learning is part of the job.

As you interact with different brands and businesses, your experience and expertise becomes more and more valuable. As we move through our hustle-led society, it can feel selfish to keep track of your accomplishments and celebrate your success. However, the more you share, the more you let people in on what your journey is like and the work they can partner with you on, or champion you for!

….Yes and….

Feedforward vs Feedback Forwards and back. We tend to focus on looking back. What did you do? Especially what did you do wrong? It’s more in the spirit of correction than improvement. And that’s part of the problem with feedback. That’s why Marshall Goldsmith introduced Feedforward. Feedforward is a constructive way to suggest what to do next time. It focuses on the task and not person. By making feedback less personal and more collaborative, you can take out some of the emotion and passion that can derail feedback sessions and create a better vision.

It's always good to have a good network of people who are either at the same level or slightly ahead of you to keep you sharp, accountable and challenged along the way. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

Different is Better Than Better Take pride in whatever it is that makes you different. Individuality is what divides you from the rest. What gets you noticed, though not always in ways that make you feel comfortable. And that’s ok. Look at your personal heroes and you’ll find that they don’t do the same old thing only a little better, they offer fresh and different ways of doing things that can’t be ignored. Netflix. The iPhone. Amazon. They didn’t just offer better, they offered different. And they’re proud to be different. Unique. Most importantly, they’re true to themselves.

Call it cheesy - but there's a reason why there's only one of you. You have a specific set of goals, talents, skills and abilities that contribute to a specific perspective when it comes to designing and maintaining a memorable brand that is easily recognized and available for shifting whenever needed.

Face it till You Make It Fake it till you make it is garbage advice. Instead, face it till you make it. Get up. Work hard. Fail. Stand back up. Face it again. Do a little better. Fail again. Get back up. And always be your authentic self. People will respect your honesty nore than some charade.

Accept that everyone is an imposter in some way at some time. Your value as a strategist is to never be complacent. However, this constant need to find and challenge shouldn't extend to your wellbeing or confidence. You are as valid as anyone to create and build. Remind yourself of this regularly, acknowledge others are experiencing similar feelings and seek out support both from yourself and those around you.

Embrace the uncertainty that comes with this opportunity as a chance to innovate and push the boundaries of what's possible in your field. By reframing your mindset in this way, you can transform any feelings of inadequacy into a source of fuel for creativity and exploration.