I #ChooseToChallenge Imposter Syndrome
There’ll be times in your career when you feel like someone is going to figure out that you don’t know what you’re doing — that’s impostor syndrome.
I remember feeling like a fraud a lot of the time. In fact, I can still recall the day I learned about impostor syndrome. It was three summers ago, during an accelerator program we were in. I felt, very intensely out of place at the start. Thoughts like, ‘what am I doing here’, ‘I’m not as good as these people’, and ‘I’ll never fit in’ were filling my head.
As the program went on, I gained a lot of knowledge. I realized how grateful and worthy I was to have been part of the program. Little did I know that this group would become a mentor network — and some of the founders that were part of it are close friends to this day.
Thanks to this experience, I learned how to recognize and navigate imposter syndrome. I was suffering from it big time, and realized that I wasn’t alone.
Impostor syndrome: let’s talk about it
According to a recent KPMG study, 3 out of 4 executive women experienced impostor syndrome at various points in their career. So at least we’re in good and crowded company. But if it’s so prevalent, why are we not talking about it more?
Imposter syndrome was first coined in 1978 by psychologists Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes. They defined it as the lack of ability to internalize personal accomplishments and the constant fear of being exposed as a fraud.
High achieving people commonly suffer from impostor syndrome, and will often dismiss success in their current role, or a career promotion or transition as luck or timing. These people also believe that they are tricking others into thinking they are more competent and intelligent than they really are. Anxiety comes from the fact that they’re afraid of being ‘found out’.
Put your hand up if this sounds like you at any point in your life 🙋🏻♀️.
But if it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in a subject, are we really faking it until we clock those numbers? It sure feels like it sometimes.
“Fake it till you make,” “believe and act as if you could not fail”, these quotes helped me to persevere early on in my entrepreneurial career — but to me, they only temporarily serve a purpose. A more sustainable approach is an inclusive and diverse one — where through a proper network of like-minded people you realize this is just all part of the journey.
Where are the female leaders?
How many women do you know leading in the moving and relocations industry? How many women are start-up founders/co-founders, and how many are tech leaders — not many.
Here are some stats for you to ponder:
- Women-led startups received just 2.3% of VC funding in 2020
- Only 12% of decision makers at VC firms are women
- Only 2.4% are founding partners at VC firms
- Of 120 new unicorns in 2020, only 10 were female-led.
- Women hold just 10% executive- level positions at tech companies globally
We are severely underrepresented, so it comes as no surprise that we have a culture of impostor syndrome amongst high-achieving professional women.
Yet, when it comes down to the brass tacks, the data tells us that diverse businesses are more profitable and build better products — no matter the diversity, so long as a wide range of perspectives is represented.
Boston Consulting Group found that, despite the very evident gap in funding between male- and female-led startups, those founded and co-founded by women perform significantly better and make for more sound financial investments. “For every US dollar of funding, these startups generated 78 US cents, while male-founded startups generated less than half that — just 31 US cents.”
What does this have to do with impostor syndrome? Everything. It’s still a boys club — and us girls, by being underrepresented, don’t get called into question, as much as we question ourselves — because why am I one of the few, as opposed to one of the many?
The issue is institutional, so we have to turn the institution on its head. I challenge the system instead of just accepting this as yet another failure for women to realize their self-worth.
I am so much more than my circumstances. Yes, I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a boss. I am a colleague. But guess what, so is my husband — all those things. Just as they are not for him, they should not be seen as mutually exclusive for me.
Here’s how we can challenge institutions so that we don’t feel like the imposters that we aren’t
Corporations and investors need to identify the institutional patterns that prevent them from supporting diverse ideas
I’m not saying that any corporate institution should support women and women-founded startups for that fact alone, but it’s important for them to recognize and weed out those institutional patterns and thinking that prevents them from recognizing great potential, and investing in it. Change is afoot, and I am so grateful for the incredible support that I, and we at Shyft have. The truth is that we need even more change to happen to make waves throughout the corporate world.
Entrepreneur moms should be the norm, not the exception
We need to lay off guilt-tripping all working moms, but especially entrepreneur moms. Turn questions like, “are you not missing his milestone moments” or “how do you trust your nanny” into “isn’t he lucky to have a strong, smart and independent mama to look up to” and “you’re so lucky to have someone dependable at home.” And encourage those around you to do the same, because being moms, bosses, and colleagues is not mutually exclusive.
Stop appropriating ideas. Stop letting others take credit for your ideas
This is an oldie but a goodie. An idea is floated in a meeting, and ignored. A few moments later, that same idea is reworded by a ‘higher-up’ and applauded. This is wrong, yet it still happens in boardrooms and offices around the world. And it has to stop.
Failure should be highlighted more often, and we should learn from others’ mistakes.
Perfectionism is an impossible dream, and like Sheryl Sandberg says, “Done is better than perfect.” Failure allows us to see the bigger picture, and it’s incredibly important. We shouldn’t hide our failure, we should use it as an opportunity to learn.
Look, I’m not saying that the system is entirely to blame for these feelings of inadequacy that we experience; however, the fact that there is a gender bias when it comes to imposter syndrome means that there is some institutional negligence that can be addressed, and it is up to us to push for the change.
What else can you do about it? Realize your worth and value in the things that you have achieved, that others have praised you for and that you’re great at. The only way to stop feeling like an impostor is to stop thinking like an impostor.
This International Women’s Day, try to remind yourself that you’re an intelligent and successful human (just look at what you’ve achieved) and the only person judging you is you. You are worthy of greatness. Let’s face it — you’re probably a rock star, so it’s time to start feeling like one.
What do you #ChooseToChallenge?
You can do a short test here to check if you are suffering from impostor syndrome:
