More on the imposter syndrome

An evergreen topic for my coaching clients is the Imposter Syndrome - the fear that people will discover that you're a total fraud, that you don't know anything, and that you have no particular skills or expertise. (I blogged about  it here, and it's on my web site at batesinfo.com/imposter)

Sound familiar? I talked about it on my latest coaching conference call (want info on my coaching? Ping me) and got two thoughtful responses that tied into this nicely.

Connie Clem's comment was that one of the things that exacerbates the imposter syndrome in many of us is our lack of appreciation for our innate talents and gifts. If something comes naturally to us, we assume that it must be easy for everyone, and why brag about that? If you tend to undervalue your talents, think about how you would describe a dear friend who happens to be just like you. Would you denigrate her amazing ability to make sense from chaos, or the way she gets along so well with people, or her amazing work ethic?

And I was pointed to a recent blog post by Seth Godin, on "pricing power":

If you’re not getting paid what you’re worth, there are only two possible reasons:
1. People don’t know what you’re worth, or
2. You’re not (currently) worth as much as you believe
The first situation can’t happen unless you permit it to. If you’re undervalued, then you have a communication problem, one that you can solve by telling accurate stories that resonate.

If you've got the imposter syndrome, you are probably in the first category rather than the second. For us to be able to convincingly tell people about our value, we have to believe that we do in fact add value to information (or whatever else you do).

And a final thought that I had during the conference call was that slipping into this fear is a way for us to limit ourselves. By telling ourselves "Oh, I'm not all that great; I don't have any special skills", we are setting ourselves up for failure.

What do you do when you start hearing those imposter-syndrome thoughts in your head?

Comments

[Frances]

I agree with Connie Clem - we often aren't aware that what comes naturally to us and what we think of as a "no-brainer" is something others may wish they could do - and are prepared to pay (significant amounts) for. For the self-employed, building confidence and clients to a tipping point of credibility is like an upward spiral, once you can get a little bit of traction with that first contract. I'm only beginning see some traction in my business promotions since I've had some visible successes. Getting my first client built my confidence enormously. Being able to point to a successfully completed project built prospective clients' confidence, which makes them more likely to look seriously at my business offer, which is likely to make me more confident in my offer, which may make me pitch better, and get more clients, which increases prospects' confidence. Before I know it, perhaps I'll discover I'm not an imposter after all!