Listen to full discussion here

Researchers Lisa Orbé-Austin and Kevin Cokley have identified two overarching responses to imposter syndrome. One is the path of procrastination, which is a kind of self-sabotaging response to feelings of fraudulence: Worried they won’t succeed, these workers put off tasks until the last minute, and when they do succeed, they easily discount their success as undeserved or a stroke of luck. Others take the path of overpreparation. These are the workers who overachieve, overwork, and overfunction. I call them anxious achievers – and I’m one of them.

Often, imposter feelings are based on long-held stories we tell ourselves. We have pushed ourselves very hard, all our lives, and when we’re faced with challenges, we feel anxious. For a lot of us, the story that we’re a fraud or we’re not good enough and we don’t belong and we must absolutely work harder than everyone else can be deeply held- even habitual. The causes for these feelings are so varied. It could be because we have been a “other” or an “only” in systems, organizations, teams and offices that treat us like we don’t belong.

Or sometimes we belong to the privileged class, but we still feel anxious, and we still feel like we don’t belong or we’re not good enough. On my podcast I have interviewed many high achievers who have operated from a system of feeling like an impostor or a failure, and then use that anxiety to push themselves ever harder. This takes a toll but can drive achievement.

People with impostor syndrome, like many anxious people, often achieve at work because anxiety pushes them to work harder and never stop. Research has even found that people with impostor feelings become “more other oriented” and are collaborative, socially skilled, and effective in teams. We humans are good at adapting! With therapy we can reduce the impact of impostor feelings – but the systems that create and foster impostor feelings need to change.

Until we talk in January, check out my interview with Dr Lisa Orbé-Austin: https://lnkd.in/eUMB5Qi5 hashtag#impostorsyndrome hashtag#systemschange