Imposter Syndrome or Dunning-Kruger effect?

I know imposter syndrome has been written about countless times - and yes, Imposter syndrome is very common amongst scientists and academics, but what about people who suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect?

I’m not only going to look at imposter syndrome in this article but also in a moment, the effects of Dunning-Kruger syndrome.

But first - imposter syndrome. Have you ever had the feeling that the others are better than you at something and you are just not as good as you feel others should see you?

Imposter syndrome can not only affect you as a scientist or academic but can also come out when you have to speak English, especially in front of native speakers.

I know I have suffered from this. I have been teaching and more recently coaching English for many years now (20 years of teaching English) and I know when I decided to focus on one area, in one field - originally working with doctors, surgeons and clinicians, I certainly felt like I was ‘an imposter’ trying to enter into their world! But as my very good friend, a consultant anaesthetist in a top London hospital ‘pointed out’ “You are not trying to teach them their profession!! You have this amazing skill that they NEED, that is to be able to communicate fluently in English, THAT’s what you are there to help them with.”

Of course this ‘put things into perspective’ for me and I went into this new field totally confident with what I do, and absolutely fascinated and inspired by what they do.. hence, originally choosing this field to work with.?

So what can you do to overcome this problem?!

1. Realise that it won’t just disappear overnight. You will need some time to work on your mindset, but this can be done!

2. Start to recognise your thoughts and understand if they are imposter syndrome thoughts or really.. because you are not doing something well enough. Analysing these thoughts will help you to recognise them more easily.

3. Talk about it! Talk to someone who you trust, they will help to put another perspective on it. I work with many people who don’t believe that their English language skills are strong enough, often, it is their mindset we need to work on first.

4. Recognise that a few mistakes are not the end of the world when speaking in English! Being ok with ok is sometimes the best philosophy to help get you through and actually make a much better impression than you imagined!

5. Make a list of the things that you are good at. Remind yourself of these often.

6. Don’t put others in a higher league than yourself. Often, many of my clients seem to think that many of their international colleagues speak better English than them. However this is very often NOT the case! They are making many mistakes that maybe you don’t notice, WHY don’t you notice? Because they speak with confidence!

What about the Dunning-Krugger effect??

This is when a person believes themselves to be more skilled in a field and able to carry out tasks and demands even when others around them may disagree.

It is when a person’s perception of their ability does not match the reality.

However it has been suggested that this theory has been overused when not really relevant.

One negative side to this effect is that the individual is generally less open to feedback so not able to progress professionally.

This could also lead to many errors being made at work and the inefficient running of a company.

This effect is interesting but not something I deal with so often with clients. It can happen, however I work more with people to help them overcome their lack of confidence to speak more fluently in English. Can you relate to either of the above? Do you know anyone who tends to suffer from either of them?

Feel free to send me a DM to know more about how I work with my clients to build their confidence to communicate more fluently and confidently in English!