How to not feel like an impostor
THE ‘FAKE’ WORRY THAT HAS VERY REAL CONSEQUENCES FOR AUSSIE WORKERS
Impostor syndrome is rampant in Australia and working from home is only exacerbating the issue. Global research reveals between 70 and 80 per cent of workers feel they are a fraud or undeserving of their role at some point in their career, and Australian experts say it is particularly common among leaders, women and people in minority groups.
While some level of worry is normal, in extreme cases people can work themselves towards burnout and mental illness trying to prove their value.
The University of Queensland Business School lecturer in leadership Dr Terry Fitzsimmons says it tends to affect people who believe other groups have an advantage because of their place in the social hierarchy.
“For example, if you go to a public school and see people from an elite private school, you are not sure what it is they have got but you know they’vegot something,” he says. “It’s more common with
women than men and with minorities than non-minorities.”
Fitzsimmons says impostor syndrome also disproportionately affects leaders and high achievers.
“The unhealthy ways it manifests is they work twice as hard, twice as long and are prone to burnout,” he says. “Then there is mental illness that comes with nagging self-doubt.”
He says the pandemic and subsequent shift to working from home in many sectors has made the issue worse as impostor syndrome thrives on the unknown.
So how can we combat selfdoubt?
LOOK FOR THE SIGNS
Peta Sigley, chief knowledge officer of resilience program provider Springfox, advises working on selfawareness.
“(Ask yourself:) How well am I receiving feedback? Am I avoiding hearing what others think?
“Do I try to do everything myself and avoid asking for help?” she says.
HAVE SELF-COMPASSION
Sigley says everybody should recognise that they are imperfect.
“Start rewiring your brain to think differently,” she says.
She says people often tell themselves they are stupid but they should speak to themselves the way they speak to a friend.
IMPROVE YOUR SENSE OF BELONGING
The key is to be clear on your role, what success looks like and how you fit into a bigger project, according to Sigley.
“There are often many contributors so there are blocks around performance that aren’t due to you,” she says.
CELEBRATE YOUR WINS
Achievements can be signing a new client or finishing a project ahead of schedule, but they do not have to be about outcomes.
“At times we don’t get the outcome we are looking for but we can acknowledge we gave our best,” Sigley says. “It’s a shift in thinking about what success looks like.”
FIND ROLE MODELS
Ella Bache chief executive Pippa Hallas felt like an impostor when she stepped into the top job at 30.
She had been head of marketing for the beauty company but was suddenly out of her comfort zone and says findings role models was one way she overcame self-doubt.
“For a long time I felt I had to do it alone, but you don’t,” she says. “There are some amazing people out there … so I built my tribe and that helped me.”