Dealing with Imposter Syndrome When it Won’t Go Away

Your company is not the biggest.

You’re not that well known.

Your credentials are, shall we say, ‘a little light’ compared to many of your competitors.

Big clients wouldn’t look twice at you, right?

Wrong.

This type of internal dialogue, and its evil twin, imposter syndrome, holds back WAY too many people and businesses from getting the clients they deserve.

C’mon, be honest: have you ever seen someone in your industry pick up a new, large client and wonder “How could they choose him/her/that company???? I’m 10 times better than them!”

Clients need professionals like you to step up and, metaphorically, ask them to dance.

Renowned South African / Australian author and ad-man, Bryce Courtenay liked to say “It has to be someone. Why not me?”

So, why not you?

You’re good at what you do. You have runs on the board.

You’re committed to delivering excellence.

You’re passionate, creative and tenacious.

And, bonus, you’re a good person!

In other words, you’re EXACTLY what many corporate whales need in their suppliers.

Not that they’re going to tell you that. You still need to get out there, find them and let them know how amazing you are and why they have to work with you.

But first, you need to truly believe that you deserve to be in the game. No time for imposter syndrome when so many others are chasing the same prize.

We’ve been there; up against the big boys with their big reputations, international alignments and shiny, marble reception areas.

And we’ve still landed hundreds of whales. Not every time, of course, but enough to know that we belonged and what we were doing worked.

Dealing with imposter syndrome, however, is often not a binary thing like setting a broken bone and waiting for it to mend.

Doubts can often creep in, no matter how successful, experienced or well credentialled you are. Research has found that 65% of professionals suffer from imposter syndrome at some time.

What to do.

Here are some easy-to-implement strategies that we’ve found can go a long way to conquering imposter syndrome, or at least, keep it at bay:

1. Reflect on what you’ve achieved

It's easy to forget just how far you’ve come, and what you’ve done to get where you are today.

You’re an achiever. When you have moments of self-doubt - as we all do - it pays to remember when and how you’ve succeeded against the odds. Or when others have said you couldn’t do something, and you’ve gone ahead and done it anyway.

Take yourself back to those happy places and times whenever you need to give yourself a boost and convince yourself that, hey, you can do this!

2. Speak to someone who gets you

If you have a trusted colleague, friend, partner or family member that can lend you a sympathetic ear, that’s a good place to start. Often, they can give you the type of realistic, objective feedback and assurance you may need to build your confidence for whatever challenge or task you want to undertake.

Voicing your feelings of doubt and inadequacy is an important first step in dealing with the feeling that you don’t belong or measure up.

That special someone in your life can help to illuminate the path you want to take to get where you want to go.

3. Positive self-talk

Can you name a consistent high achiever in any field who appeared to have low self-esteem?

We can’t either.

While it may seem a little ‘woo woo’, positive self-talk can make a big difference in a world where there’s no shortage of people looking to take you down a peg or five.

Undoubtedly, social media has contributed to the feelings many of us have of not measuring up.

Everyone on social media seems to be more attractive (love those filters!), successful, happy, and brilliant than you are.

But are they really?

Probably not.

Being ‘Facebook (or LinkedIn) happy’ doesn’t mean people really are happy.

Simple solution: don’t go on social media.

If that’s a bit too extreme for you, another good strategy, after incorporating points 1 and 2, is to be completely honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses, be clear on your goals, and build an action plan from there.

4. Focus on your clients’ needs, not yours

Yes, it sounds obvious, but how well are you doing it?

It’s amazing how liberating it can be when you stop focusing on what you want, and start being laser-focused on delivering for your clients.

You quieten the noise in your head when you’re trying to get inside the head of someone else.

This is perhaps the most simple, powerful and under-appreciated technique of all to deal with imposter syndrome.

Valerie Young is a world-renowned expert on imposter syndrome. Some time ago, she developed 10 steps to overcoming imposter syndrome. You can read them here.