Whether or not you are familiar with the term Imposter Syndrome, you may have already experienced this phenomenon without even knowing it. While this article will briefly speak about what it is, the goal of the following is to share my experience with Imposter Syndrome, provide some insights on how I've learned to deal with it, and share some links to external, free resources that you can use to explore more about the topic.
Defining Imposter Syndrome
Imposter Syndrome, also known as Imposterism, is a psychological phenomenon where people feel that they are not deserving of their achievements and that they are not as competent as their peers or colleagues may believe, according to Psychology Today. Often times people who experience this phenomenon have thoughts and feelings of inadequacy within their professional and/or educational role, all while receiving praise from their peers.
My Imposterism Journey
My experience with Imposter Syndrome began when my career shifted out of the university, non-profit setting and into the tech, for-profit world. To set the scene, I had just finished my master's degree in Arizona, moved to a European country where I did not speak the local language, and had about 4 to 5 years of event management experience within the non-profit and university sectors under my belt.
After a few months of rejection due to not speaking the language I decided that my career in event management would have to be paused for the time being. This is ultimately where my story with Imposter Syndrome begins as here was the first time I felt that my proven skills were simply not good enough. I began a year of teaching at a pre-school, used much of my experience as an event manager to succeed in the classroom, and loved every minute of it. Unfortunately, this is where the nicer part of my story takes a pause.
Moving Back into Event Management
As this year of teaching came to a close I was on the move again to another new country where I did not speak the language and was unsure about returning to event management as I felt that the year away had further hurt my resume and that despite using my skills within the classroom, they were now insufficient in a business setting. Nonetheless I began application processes for event positions and found a great opportunity with an organization hosting thier annual tech event. Despite my enthusiasm and initial success within the role I felt as if I was in a bit over my head organizing a full conference and managing a number of side events for the first time in almost 2 years.
After being out of the business sector for so long, my feelings of being “in over my head” boiled down to the sense that I had lost valuable skills (which in reality was not actually the case). In my experience before the pivot to teaching I hosted a handful of events, some for thousands of attendees, with great success where there were obvious day-of stresses but never a feeling of inadequacy until now. I found myself over analyzing my own actions, asking redundant questions during meetings, and over organizing every aspect of the event. Nothing extra that I was doing made me feel better nor did it have a positive impact on the event at hand, not to mention it likely annoyed my colleagues. As this event came to a close, it did so with much success and I was feeling quite good with myself despite my previous doubts (aka Imposterism). I also managed to land a new role as an in-house event manager for a start-up focusing on education-based tech events.
New Position Equals New Self-Doubts
The new position came with a new set of responsibilities, struggles, and a new chapter in my Imposter Syndrome story. This is also where I had the absolute pleasure in meeting and working with Rosemarie Wilson for the first time. Shortly after our initial meeting, she also acted as my formal introduction to the then unexplainable phenomenon I was now experiencing for the third time in my career.
The internal conflict I now faced with myself in this new position was a result of the fact that for the first time in my career I was given the autonomy to run events how I thought best. Of course I had targets to reach, a manager to regularly report to, and was succeeding thus far, but I was very unsure of myself at the start. Luckily, I now had some knowledge of Imposterism and had the ability to reflect on my previous experience with the same feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy. To this extent, I did my best to refrain from over-complicating each and every decision that must be made for the events now at hand. A new strategy I enacted in the workplace was spending constructive working time with my team and manager on a regular basis. We used this time together discussing how to best improve from the previous event, ways to improve how we prepare for an upcoming event as a team, and planning a retrospective session to take place no more than a week after the event.
Moving Towards the Future
On the flip side, my thoughts still ran wild and it was incredibly difficult to calm those nerves. Slowly but surely I recorded each success I gained within this role (something like a journal), ultimately proving to myself that I do have the management and organizational skills (and more than enough of it) to thrive and continue growing into more senior positions as my career continues to progress. To this day I look back at my journal of achievements whenever feelings on self-doubt bubble back up to the surface. This has certainly been my most useful and most used tool both personally and professionally.
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome as Suggested by Experts
While I am certainly no expert on Imposter Syndrome, I would like to share information I’ve learned over the last few years from one person in particular.
Who is Rosemarie Wilson?
In short, Rosemarie Wilson is a coach, mentor, author, and advocate for women in tech. She’s also an incredibly kind person whom I have had the pleasure of working with on multiple occasions. Rosemarie is also a founding member of Rise, formerly called the London Tech Ladies. This group hosts in-person and online meetups that support women in tech through a range of topics. I personally have very much enjoyed working with Rise and highly suggest attending their events.
In her guide to overcoming Imposter Syndrome, Rosemarie in-depth explains a number of steps that you can take to combat this psychological phenomenon. A few of the steps described include journaling, asking for help, and embracing change. The three specific steps referred to here have been those that I’ve used most and they have greatly helped me along my journey with Imposterism over the years.
Useful (Free) Resources
If you would like to learn more about Rosemarie Wilson, you can visit her website or watch some of the content located within her YouTube Channel. Also, check out a couple of semi-recent appearances Rosemarie has made: “How to Challenge Imposter Syndrome and Thrive” at Women in Identity and her visit to The Ideas on Stage Podcast. If you’re interested on learning more about the Rise meetup group, you can follow them on MeetUp.com and LinkedIn.
Conclusion
Being in the midst of Imposter Syndrome can be a very lonely and challenging place. If there’s one thing I hope readers take away from this article is that, despite everything, you are certainly not alone in this journey of Imposterism. Not only do many, many people around the world suffer from this phenomenon, there are so many resources to use to aid your journey to a more confident work-life. Meeting with and learning from coaches such as Rosemarie Wilson can also prove incredibly helpful in both the short term and long term of your career. You also never know who else is experiencing the same feelings until you allow yourself that first step in opening up about it, whether this be to a colleague, family member, or friend. Most importantly, and from someone who has suffered feelings of being a workplace imposter, there is light at the end of the tunnel and it’s very possible to get back to a place of feeling confident and thriving as you excel, moving up in your career.