Written by: Suki Collins, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Imposter syndrome appears in many different guises, which makes it difficult to recognise. It often lurks deep within our minds, casting a shadow over our thoughts. And because we tend not to notice it, many of us fail to realise that we may be feeling its effect on our life.
In this second article on imposter syndrome, I explore some of the different forms it can take – and some of the causes. As with many aspects of the mind, when we increase our awareness and shine a light on a pattern, we start down the path to freedom. Though it can be a challenge to eradicate deep-rooted habits, there is a way forward.
High-flyers are particularly prone to imposter syndrome, but the impact ripples well beyond the person who exhibits its symptoms. Their self-doubt can come across as negativity, which can be a challenge for work colleagues, friends, and family – particularly those who are not such high achievers. Do you think you’ve got problems?
The Expert
Are you constantly adding to your skills? Hopefully so. But while additional training and upskilling are vital, ‘experts’ do not take time to embed their existing skillset. They feel that they lack the full complement of qualifications for their current role but that, if they complete one more training course, they will be all set. Unfortunately, this hunger for ‘just one more’ will never be satisfied. Not unless they can escape imposter syndrome anxiety.
The Natural Expert
Some people are naturally talented. When something new comes up – no problem. They wing it. Until the day, that is, when they meet a challenge that refuses to succumb to their first few attempts. Someone who is used to succeeding without the need for persistence can find it harder to cope if they face a seemingly immovable object. Like a champion marathon runner, fearing failure if they fall behind the leader in a race, self-doubt can come to the fore.
The Perfectionist
This one is familiar to me. I often feel dissatisfied with what I’ve achieved, thinking that my work could be better. For example, when writing an article like this one, I really must grit my teeth before pressing the ‘send button’. The temptation to read it yet one more time, and make an extra tweak or two, weighs heavily on my mouse hand. But, just like the expert’s hunger to book another training course, overindulging in this perfectionist habit can create a bottleneck. From an objective viewpoint, we could be allocating our time much more effectively to a higher-value task.
The Superhero
If you want something done, give it to a busy person. The superhero tends to create a to-do list that borders on the infinite. They push themselves to take on more than is physically possible and, in so doing, set themselves up for yet another failure. Failure from their perspective anyway. Even if they achieve great things from an objective viewpoint, they often feel little sense of satisfaction. Except, perhaps, when they add one more item to their to-do list.
The Soloist
If you want something done properly, do it yourself. It’s not only the perfectionist who clings on to tasks. A person may be afraid to accept help or support because they view it as a blemish – a signal that their work is not good enough. However, the soloist may also be afraid of outside scrutiny. They figure that they are likely to be exposed as the fraud they are if they allow anyone to take too close a look.
What causes imposter syndrome?
According to the literature, there is no single cause. Many factors can contribute to the development of imposter syndrome. As with other habit patterns, you might have been born with a personality trait, or have developed methods of relating to the world in the light of your life experiences: childhood, school, relationships, work, and perceptions of success and failure.
Early life
Both family dynamics and parenting styles during childhood are known to be factors in shaping your personality. For example, you may have lived with high-performing siblings or felt parental pressure to succeed in exams. Or, if you were raised in a high-conflict environment, you may have developed imposter syndrome as a coping mechanism.
Changes and transitions
Change is part of life. Leaving the sanctuary of home to start school may feel exciting or scary. Moving from a small junior school to a senior school – which may be much larger and rougher – is a major change, too. Parental break-ups, moving from a house we loved to one we hate, leaving friends behind, and the loss of loved ones: all these can be traumatic. We may find that the transition between one backdrop and another was tricky to manage and created an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy, which we carry with us like a rucksack on our back.
Our personality
Though anyone can be afflicted by imposter syndrome, it is particularly prevalent in high-flyers. The drive to succeed often carries with it an anxiety of self-doubt. In highly-strung or extremely competitive people, this can develop quickly and have a powerful effect. Here, it is the expectations we have of ourselves and the blurred vision of our abilities that are in play.
In Conclusion
Imposter syndrome appears in many guises. Feelings of self-doubt do play a useful role in shielding us from arrogance, but there is a balance to be struck. Anxiety can hold us back from achieving more, and lead to stress and unhappiness. Even Einstein saw himself as an ‘involuntary swindler’.
The starting point to developing an effective mindset is to become more aware of our current habit patterns. If we can develop a more objective sense of our abilities and competence, we can be kinder to ourselves, achieve even more, and become easier companions to those with whom we interact.
In my third and final article on imposter syndrome, I will discuss ways to reduce and overcome the feelings of self-doubt and anxiety it can bring.
The author would like to thank copywriter, Stuart Warner, for his valuable comments on a draft of this article.
Suki Collins, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Suki Collins is a leading Business Coach and an accredited Executive Coach. She has over 20 years of experience at the senior HR management level. She practices a coaching style of management and has seen the difference coaching can make to an individual, a team, and the organization. On an organizational level, she was responsible for establishing a Medical School in the United Kingdom. Currently, the School is in the top 5 Medical Schools in the UK. She coached senior leadership to utilize HR tools to ensure performance and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity (EDI), and belonging are at the heart of everything Suki does.
Suki is the Founder/Director of Pebbles Coaching and Wellbeing Consultancy, established in 2020. Her company aims to provide coaching to individuals, teams, and organizations, leveraging the insight of over two decades of senior management experience within two top Universities and extensive executive coaching experience.
Suki is passionate about new challenges, has a positive outlook on life, and this is carried through everything she does. She strongly believes that a positive mindset can take her through any challenges she faces in life.
Suki’s mission: spread the word about the positive impact of coaching.
