Move Beyond Impostor Syndrome
Last week I coached a client on Impostor Syndrome and gave a talk to over 100 physicians in a major healthcare setting on the same topic.
One of the common themes in both of the situations was a feeling of “I’m not smart enough” or “experienced enough” and people will find out.
My coaching client was very focused on the fact that she didn’t always know the right solution to offer, especially compared to her colleagues. BTW, she’s a WOC in a very male dominated industry.
I asked her if you aren’t “enough” then why do you think you are in the board room advising CEO’s? I asked her what’s the benefit of being “inexperienced?” She said - I’m less biased.
Then I asked her to tell me about her approach.
She shared with me that she has good interpersonal skills and can tell when a client is trying to cover up what’s really going on.
She assures them that she is already invested in them and they can be upfront about their issues. She doesn’t want to be impressed with fancy presentations.
Together they uncover the root of the issue. She then creates a strategy, makes referrals or connections to get them the help they really need.
I reflected back to her that her innate skills of relationship intelligence is her Brilliance and to imagine how much, time, money and energy would be wasted if she didn’t create that level of trust with her CEO’s.
I told her soon I’m filming a course for a learning company on how to use emotional Intelligence to communicate with empathy.
A skill, which is innate to her. She was blown away. It was so natural for her, she didn’t realize it was a super power.
One of the hallmark archetypes of Impostor Syndrome is need to be “the expert.” A message that is drilled into us via school, high-performance training, thought leadership messaging, etc.
As a result, we put our brilliance in the shadows and we try to compensate for our “weaknesses” instead of leading with our gifts. This perpetuates workaholism and Impostor Burnout.
The remediation to the “expert” is to know when and where to refer which my client was already doing.
For the doctors, I reminded them of why they chose their professions. It was never about being the smartest person in the room, it’s about serving others with their gift of care and their skill of healing.
One of the most powerful ways to change culture is to bring your brilliance out of the shadows and lead with it.
Growing up, I was always told I talked too much. I used to get in trouble all the time for it and that’s how my brilliance went into the shadow.
Today, I’m a professional speaker.
The thing you have been conditioned to judge or hide about yourself is the very thing that will help you move beyond Impostor Syndrome.
Are you ready to liberate yourself and move beyond Impostor Syndrome?
