Tackling Imposter Syndrome in STM: Personal Insights from an Industry Expert
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We had the recent honor of being joined by Michael Sadek, Medical Advisor with Organon Pharmaceutical, to discuss tangible strategies for tackling imposter syndrome in the workplace. When you're a success, but deep down all your doubts and insecurities keep telling you otherwise - that's Imposter Syndrome. It can be the constant fear of being 'found out' as an inadequate fraud despite everyone else seeing something to celebrate!
In part one, Michael had shared with us details of his own journey and the five Imposter Syndrome archetypes to help identify symptoms and resulting behaviors. Below, he takes us a step further and outlines how to tackle Imposter Syndrome head on.
Unlocking Our Career Potential
RS: With the vast prevalence of Imposter Syndrome, and related symptoms, what does that mean for unlocking potential within ourselves?
MS: Great question! Yes, since so many of us feel this way, imagine the amount of hidden potential we have or the amount of talent we could deliver in the workplace, and in our personal lives, if we are not held back by these thoughts and feelings.
There is huge opportunity for improvement if we can control our negative thoughts and emotions.
It helps me to think about the many famous individuals, people who are super productive and successful in their lives and careers, who have been vocal about experiencing these symptoms:
All have mentioned facing the challenges of Imposter Syndrome in articles and interviews, saying that deep down inside that they are not competent enough or not good at what they do. It will be the next book I write, the next movie I make, the next public speech I deliver, that will be what makes people think I am a complete fraud, always have been, and they will lose trust in me.
Try to keep in mind, if people at this level of success and influence can still feel those kinds of negative thoughts or beliefs about themselves, you don’t need to be so hard on yourself. Who knows? You could be the next Tom Hanks or Michelle Obama! Perhaps look at this as a sign that you are on the right track.
RS: How did your own challenges with Imposter Syndrome take shape?
MS: At the beginning of my career, I joined the sales team in my company, and then I moved to the marketing team. Oftentimes, depending on the industry, marketers are considered the “big guns” within the company. They are the stars; the ones that are coming up with one million innovative ideas while delivering successful initiatives and campaigns to grow the business.
Therefore, during this time, I felt as though I was constantly in a competition to prove myself. I told myself I had to be perfect on day one, although I was still very early in my career journey (I was channeling my inner Natural Genius Imposter Syndrome type). As time went on, I started to put increasingly unrealistic expectations on my shoulders, and I started to experience some negative consequences along the way.
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The first manifestation was the feeling of guilt and shame because I didn't get everything right the first time. From challenges accommodating my mindset to learning new things about financial forecasting, the slightest thing I didn’t know “well enough” I viewed as a complete disaster and failure. I put all the weight on my shoulders and planned to do everything on my own (much like the Soloist Imposter Syndrome type). But what really played out was that I stayed under the radar and developed a very low resilience; I wanted to quit.
Three Strategies for Facing Imposter Syndrome
RS: That sounds like a challenging time in your career! What strategies did you apply to handle and move past that pressure and stress?
MS: It takes a few different approaches and, unfortunately, there’s no magical solution. No spell that will instantly get rid of those ideas and thoughts. No magical potion you drink and then, POOF, you will have completely mastered Imposter Syndrome.
In reality, it's a long journey; one of learning and self-development. It’s a journey with both failures and successes along the way. And you will have to grow into this journey.
But I can share three ideas to keep in mind that will hopefully help you while you are on this journey, just as they helped me.
To learn more about the three strategies for facing imposter syndrome, read the full blog here: https://bit.ly/3GWs0zu
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