Two Proven Tips to Reduce Imposter Syndrome

Summer of 2009. The global headquarters of a huge tech company, just outside of Boston. It is the first day of my first job in the U.S. I’m sitting in a meeting room with multiple people from the marketing team. They’re having a discussion about launching a new product and the marketing campaign which will accompany it. I’m listening. Various terms are being thrown around: customer journey, top of the funnel, customer personas, and more.

And then there are various idioms being used. Where the rubber meets the road... Hit the ground running... Hit the ball out of the park… Bottom of the ninth… And many more. What are they talking about?

I bury my face in my notebook, writing furiously all the terms and idioms that have been thrown up in the air. I sink into my chair, trying to minimize my presence (not an easy task for a 6’3 guy) and pray that no one addresses me or asks me anything.

Incidentally, my English is excellent. I’ve just spent two years in a great business school in the Boston area and used the English language in my daily work for many years. And yet, I find that I’m completely stumped in this meeting. I understand every word, but not the context. What do they mean? Is that some new kind of marketing? What am I doing here? How did I get here? How do I hide that I don’t belong here, that I’m probably here by mistake?

The Imposter Syndrome

is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent?internalized?fear of being exposed as a "fraud."

And you have to understand something – while it’s my first job in the U.S., I’m already a veteran marketing professional, with nearly 15 years of experience in B2B technology. I’ve founded and led a successful marketing consulting firm. I’ve advised numerous tech companies, from early-stage start-ups to large multinationals. I’ve supported customers through IPOs and M&As. I’m supposed to know what the team is talking about, yet have no idea what’s going on.

The meeting ends. I go back to my cubicle and begin to research the various terms in my notebook. With every term, the truth becomes clear – not only do I know exactly what it is, but I’ve been there and done that. I know it all inside out, not just on the theoretical level, but from real-life experience, having previously done that. It’s just that I knew all these “Marketing 101” terms in a different language, not in English. In the following weeks I would spend hours reading marketing articles, familiarizing myself with this old/new vocabulary – this time in English.

I did the same research on the idioms. I never heard so many idioms used in a conversation before. I had to learn them from scratch. It became quickly apparent that many idioms come from the world of sports and are culturally related. For example, “bottom of the ninth”, which means at the very last minute, it’s the end of the game and no time left. I’m coming from a country where soccer is the main sport (we call it football…), and the parallel idiom is “at the 90th minute” (as soccer is played for 90 minutes). Thus, I became fascinated with idioms – collecting them, learning new ones, and using them in daily conversations.

That meeting was not the first time I had experienced imposter syndrome. There were other times. Like the time when I was in my early 20’s. I was a leading reporter at a popular financial daily newspaper, and interviewed government ministers or CEOs of large corporations. Or later, in my late 20’s, when I advised face to face to the founder & CEO of one of the leading cyber security companies in the world.

I’m probably not the only one who has experienced imposter syndrome. In case it happens to you, here are two proven tips I’ve learned over the years on how to cope:

1. Reflect on your accomplishments via your LinkedIn profile and CV. Go back to all the roles you’ve done, the successes you’ve had, your accomplishments, awards won, etc. This is what “they” saw when they chose you, so it’s likely you’re not an imposter. And in parallel, also –
2. Fake it ‘til you become it. We all know the saying “fake it ‘til you make it”, but there’s a step beyond that, which is “fake it ‘til you become it”. See this amazing TED talk by Dr. Amy Cuddy, the 2nd most watched TED talk of all times. These 21 minutes explain what it’s all about, and will change your life! ?So straighten up, lift your chin, smile, change your posture to a powerful one (watch the video!), and tell yourself “I belong here!”. Then, go do it. Fake it ‘til you become it!

Do you have any other tips on how to handle imposter syndrome when it happens?

Feel free to post your advice below. I’d love to hear from you!