Impostor Syndrome has been rightly dubbed as the “workplace anxiety du jour”. To me, it can show up as a barrier to an emerging leader’s performance, rather than a lack of skill set, experience or training. Looking back at my own career, I have had the fortune of holding leadership positions in many high growth companies. Interestingly, I got opportunistically hired into most of these roles, rather than applying to open positions. Every time I would get a role, I would wonder if I would have been able to get it, if the role was to be formally published with many qualified candidates competing for it. Needless to say, I have faced imposter syndrome many times in life—before joining a new job, while getting promoted or sometimes even when someone appreciated me—only to later realize that feeling like an imposter is completely okay, if you know how to overcome it.
I've found that it is key to define success and make sure that your definition of success is within your control. Without a definition of success, there is no way for you to use your success to recognize that you are doing the job well and you can end up in a cycle of feeling unworthy without the end point of feeling successful. Without a definition of success that is within your control, you are doomed to feeling overwhelmed
I've found that it is key to define success and make sure that your definition of success is within your control. Without a definition of success, there is no way for you to use your success to recognize that you are doing the job well and you can end up in a cycle of feeling unworthy without the end point of feeling successful. Without a definition of success that is within your control, you are doomed to feeling overwhelmed