Imposter syndrome is real. If you don’t feel confident at work, it’s not your fault. From a young age, women receive messages that make it hard to stay confident as we advance. We hope you acknowledge these feelings but take steps to combat them—such as recognizing your abilities, taking the initiative even when you feel scared, and speaking up when someone questions your skills. By taking action, you can kick off a positive cycle in which your confidence grows over time. Thank you to @bobeema via TikTok for getting real and being vulnerable enough to share.
Lean In According to a study released by KPMG: A MAJORITY of executive women across professions identified as having feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt, or imposter syndrome, in their careers. WE ARE IN VERY GOOD COMPANY. A plethora of leaders/celebrities have publicly admitted their imposter syndrome: 👉Maya Angelou couldn’t escape the doubt that she hadn’t really earned her accomplishments. “I’ve run a game on everybody and they’re going to find me out,” she said. 👉Albert Einstein described himself as an “involuntary swindler” whose work didn’t deserve theattention it received. 👉Sheryl Sandberg stated that every time she excelled, she believed that she had fooled everyone. 👉 Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor said, “I have spent my years since Princeton always looking over my shoulder wondering if I measure up.” 👉Tom Hanks said, “There comes a point where you think, 'How did I get here? When are they going to discover that I am, in fact, a fraud?” 👉 Barbara Corcoran 👉 Arianna Huffington 👉 Michelle Obama So, if you’ve really never had imposter syndrome, you’re in the minority. But the vast majority of us have had it or still do. So be it; we’re in good company!
I agree, I gets easier to live with but I actually found the feeling got worse the more senior I got. I think this is because in early careers you expect to be learning things and there’s a bit of confidence that comes with niaivity. The higher I went the more I was exposed to what I didn’t know. This made me, in my head, question myself more often.
I think it's also about the permission to give yourself as a woman to be the boss Lean In. What if we re-frame bossy to be that I am the boss and as a woman, I am allowing myself to feel a spectrum of emotions and thoughts as well as feelings. Maybe re-framing it will help us to believe that we are worthy of feeling like a boss too.
You don't have control over what others think about you. The more we remind ourselves of that, the more it will be easier to accept these imposter thoughts. So what if someone thinks you are bossy. Or juvenile. If you are successfully doing your job at the high quality I know you are, with kindness and empathy then that's what matters.
Yup it is baked in and they are going to think you are bossy, or juvenile, or "not a team player, or too direct, or, or, or...all for saying/doing something you JUST WATCHED A MAN DO...which was TOTALLY fine.
Never goes away. Just have to change your mindset. One I love is thinking "They are probably going to think I am too bossy no matter what I do, mind as well just be myself!". But, yes, I WISH we didn't have it so baked in and even more, I wish we didn't need to worry.
Just forwarded this to my daughters. Thanks for posting! I have had several men tell me that patriarchy does not exist 🤣 how would they know!!! It does 100 percent exist!
Love this
Director Emerita and Professor Emerita
1dIt's worth checking out the concept of 'discriminatory gaslighting' as explained by Christy Pichichero in her interview on NPR (https://www.npr.org/2021/05/09/995172973/imposter-syndrome-or-something-else-historian-talks-discriminatory-gaslighting#:~:text=Well%2C%20discriminatory%20gaslighting%20happens%20when,and%20dependence%20in%20minoritized%20groups.)