Imposter syndrome, otherwise known as the voice inside our heads telling us we are a fraud, can cause us to experience chronic self doubt. Let’s first paint a picture of how this can play out in our day to day lives:

Situation 1: Martin gets accepted to his Master’s Degree on a full scholarship. He finishes this 2 year program in just under 1.5 years. Rather than attributing both these successes to his own hard work, he concludes that everyone else in the program must have had low grades, and the program itself was easy.

Situation 2: Without any connections, Stacy works her way into the top law firm in Canada, excelling in her field. Case after case, she continues to prove herself a complete success. Despite all this, the voice in her head still does not quite believe or accept that she’s earned, or deserves the merit.

Do any of these situations resonate or strike any similarities to you? If so, might be experience some degree of “imposter syndrome”! This doubt often leads us to believe that our own successes are attributed to external factors, making it seemingly impossible to internalize and accept our own success. The good news? There are so many things you can do to turn this self doubt into a positive driver for your own success!

1. Stop assuming people knows what you know

As we begin to specialize in a specific area, we often don’t realize how much unique and tacit knowledge exists in our minds. We assume that “if I know this, everyone must too”. Certain domains might seem obvious to you, but it likely is not obvious to others.

Try sitting down and listing out all the unique skills you’ve gained from each job or professional experience you’ve had. When I was working in recruitment, it never even dawned on me that the ability to write and edit a resume and LinkedIn page was something people struggled with. It only became clear to me that this was a leveragable skill once a classmate offered to pay me to edit all her professional documents for her. If you’re having trouble recognizing your own set of unique skills, think about a task your friends often come to you for help with, or ask your colleagues what they believe are some of your top strengths!

2. Speak to other people, hear their stories of imposter syndrome

What do Sheryl Sandberg, Natalie Portman, and Howard Schultz all have in common? Similar to 70% of people, they too experience imposter syndrome. So many confident, intelligent and accomplished people admit today that they too don’t always feel like experts.

Talking about this shared experience and realizing that most people have overcome their own insecurities can help reduce the power it has to damage your own confidence. A core component of imposter syndrome is the “shame” that accompanies the vulnerability. Every time you hold back on an idea, refrain from giving feedback, refrain from going for a new opportunity because you fear you won’t measure up, you ultimately miss out.

When moving to Uber, Newly appointed Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stated

“I have to tell you I am scared. I’ve been here at Expedia for so long that I’ve forgotten what life is like outside this place. But the times of greatest learning for me have been when I’ve been through big changes, or taken on new roles — you have to move out of your comfort zone and develop muscles that you didn’t know you had.”

Rather than hide your vulnerabilities, use them to help you continue learning!

3. Take on a growth mindset

We tend to get caught up in the “I’ll feel a certain way when” trap

→ I’ll feel successful WHEN I get that promotion

→ I’ll feel confident WHEN I achieve xyz

This kind of fixed mindset highlights happiness, success, and confidence as a final destination, rather than a state of mind. When we adopt a growth mindset, we accept that talent and goals can be achieved through hard work, and reward ourselves for our learning and progress. Carol Dweck’s research on “Growth Mindset” discusses how we approach difficult problems. She asks “Are you not smart enough to solve it … or have you just not solved it yet?” By adding the “Yet”, we understand that we’re on a curve towards success, should we want it.

So next time you’re thinking…

→I don’t feel confident

→ I don’t feel successful

…add a simple “yet” to remind yourself that you might not feel that way yet, but you have the power to change that each day.

4. Challenge your cognitive bias

It is important to take a deep dive into your own subconscious and recognize any internal biases that might be getting in the way of your own success.

Do you tend to see yourself as the driver of your own life, or, do you find yourself constantly looking outwards at your environment to attribute both your successes? ( otherwise known as your Locus of Control)? When you catch yourself making excuses for your success, really look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself how much of these excuses you’re willing to accept or believe. Was it really luck? Convenience? A default decision?

Where is your level of self efficacy? Self efficacy is the vision of where you want to go and the conscious belief that you can achieve that vision. When you think about your own ability to go through the steps to get your desired outcome, what kind of inner dialogue is running through your head? Is it a positive or negative voice?

It is always important to celebrate all your successes, big or small, and recognize the merit you deserve. Though sometimes our successes can be attributed to some luck, connections, or being in the right place, the saying “Luck is what happens when hard work meets opportunity” is usually true!

Have you ever experienced imposter syndrome? What did that look like for you and how did you overcome it? Please comment bellow and let me know!

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”

http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2013/11/fraud.aspx

https://www.fastcompany.com/40447089/its-not-just-you-these-super-successful-people-suffer-from-imposter-syndrome

https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/in-just-8-words-ubers-new-ceo-gave-a-masterclass-i.html

https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve

Instructional Design: In this class, we learn the process of designing a corporate training program, from the needs assessment, design/delivery, and evaluation. In the needs assessment, we look at a company’s overarching environment, and try to identify any performance gaps. Using this gap, we can create learning objectives for the course to guide the rest of the process. Next, we learn all about how to design and deliver effective training to meet the needs of each organization. Finally, we learn to evaluate the overall effectiveness and usefulness of our program. We use the ADDIE model to guide us throughout the process.

Why is this important? 74% of workers feel they are not achieving their full potential at work and want more training. Additionally, only 38% of managers feel their program’s meet their learner’s needs. The importance of retaining top talent and creating a company culture that rocks can no longer be ignored, and part of that is giving employees the training they need to succeed.

Project Management: In this class, we look at how to manage the entire lifecycle of a project, from creating a charter, developing a plan, managing budgets, managing remote teams and resources, controlling for risks, understanding software, and more. I have found this course to be extremely interesting, as it teaches you some important business essentials!

Why is this important? 89% of high-performing organizations value project management and 59% of companies’ state having used project management methodology. The ability to manage the entire lifespan of a project is an important skill to master for any job.

Performance Improvement: In this course, we learn how to manage performance when training is not enough to solve the organizational problem. We look at different models of performance, and analyze how a person’s environment, available resources, available information, and personal motivation and competencies interplay to affect performance. Based on this, we come up with creative solutions to mitigate problems that training may not address. Additionally, I get to participate in a case competition and attend a performance improvement conference in Philadelphia this spring with the International Society for Performance Improvement! Here, I will be presenting my solutions to a fictional client who has presented a problem in their customer service department. I’m building my chops through this case study, while getting class credit — -win win!

Why is this important: All too often, companies turn to training to solve all of their performance problems. However, if the underlying problem lies elsewhere-say, culture or motivation — then spending money on a training program won’t really show much of a return!

Evaluation in Training: Here, we look at the way training impacts an organization on all levels using Kirkpatrick’s 4 level’s of evaluation. First, we evaluate people’s reaction to the training — did they like it? Was it useful? Then, we measure how well they were able to apply these new skills. Next, we look at how these new skills were able to transfer long term — will they still be applying this training 5 month from now when they go about their days? After assessing this, we look at different ways in which training can impact the organization as a whole, and finally, measuring its ROI. Defining our training goals at project inception, we are able to track the success at each stage and assess the return on investment the training had for the company.

Why is this important? Companies in the U.S spend over 70 billion dollars a year on training their employees. However, most companies don’t look further than measuring whether or not their staff enjoyed the experience. In a world where data is king, understanding where your money is going and being able to measure its success in definable metrics is crucial.

Everyone’s experience is obviously different, but these have been the most important take always for me as I near the end of my degree. How do you feel about the world of Ed Tech, L+D, Training and Performance improvement? Please feel free to share any thoughts!