Image courtesy of Arlington Research @ Unsplash
Without a doubt Imposter Syndrome is something that we experience internally. Experiencing Imposter Syndrome is basically doubting your own abilities and believing you don’t deserve the success you achieve. Therefore any success you have will be put down to external factors such as luck, fluke, timing or charm.
Some of what individuals experience in the workplace is purely down to their own internal views but what if the workplace is creating an environment and culture that breeds and feeds Imposter Syndrome?
In 2018 Commercial Union Finance conducted a National Study in the UK and it found that 62% of UK adults were experiencing Imposter Syndrome at work. So what could be causing it?
Here are some examples of how the workplace can breed Imposter Syndrome:
· Mistakes are seen as failure – it is impossible to not make mistakes. We are human and we have to accept that mistakes happen. However if there is a culture where mistakes are dealt with severely, then this can make people become fearful of making mistakes (which is the perfect ground for breeding mistakes!). Someone experiencing Imposter Syndrome will hate to make mistakes and will see it as a personal failure rather than something that is natural
· Blame culture – if people are fearful of making mistakes, then they also will not want to admit their mistakes for fear of getting into trouble, so it’s easier to blame someone else. There is nothing worse than someone who doubts themselves already being blamed for something they didn’t do
· Expectations not clear – having a job description is not enough. How does someone know what is expected – how do they know they are focusing on the right things? If they don’t know what Is expected then they are left to judge themselves and someone with Imposter Syndrome with judge themselves very harshly
· Lack of recognition and praise – if you don’t receive any feedback for the quality of your work then again you can judge yourself. Imposters have high standards so they are highly likely to be unable to recognise and praise themselves
· Lack of diversity – if you don’t see other people that are like yourself, you can feel like a stranger in a strange land and can leave you asking yourself do I belong here? Should I be here?
· Imbalance of personality types – if you’re surrounded by outgoing types who are quick to share their views and ideas, people with a more reserved and reflective personality may get overlooked. Leaders need to be able to recognise that there are strengths and challenges with all personality types – space needs to be given to the ones who don’t shout the loudest
· Unchallenged inappropriate behaviour – there is nothing worse than behaviour that makes another individual feel less than. Of course constructive feedback can be helpful but if feedback is delivered in the wrong way such as bullying or belittling, this can have a lasting impact on someone’s self esteem
· Challenging of someone’s character rather than ability – all too often I hear that someone is being told that they need to be more of/less of – to be good enough they need to change who they are and implying that they are not enough as they are. Yes of course everyone can develop but thinking everyone needs to act in a certain way to be successful is not helpful. An Imposter already doubts themselves so if you give them reason to believe their character is not good enough, this can have a damning effect on their self esteem
· How behaviour is accessed – are there mixed standards when talking with men and women? A woman putting across her views in a meeting can be seen as aggressive where a man doing the same is seen as assertive. A woman telling people what to do is deemed bossy whereas a man doing the same is efficient.
· Lack of mentoring - being able to seek some advice from someone who is more experienced than yourself is helpful. Asking your own line manager for help and guidance can be difficult, so if there is no formal mentoring in place then individuals can struggle in silence
So looking at these examples above, the question now lies with you? Is your workplace a breeding ground for Imposter Syndrome? According to the study conducted by Commercial Union Finance, 38% of individuals said that their own self doubt was the reason for experiencing Imposter Syndrome but my question is does your workplace nourish your intellect or feed your insecurity?