Is ‘impostor syndrome’ holding you back at work?

IT HAPPENS to Jamila Rizvi every time she gives a speech and even Emma Watson suffers from it. ‘Impostor syndrome’ could be holding you back too.

News.com.au columnist Jamila Rizvi suffers from impostor syndrome when’s asked to deliver a speech. It’s surprisingly common.

IT HAPPENS to me every time I give a speech. It’s like I’ve just swallowed a potato chip that was too big and it’s scraped my throat on the way down. My hands shake. My breathing becomes more rapid.

Even though I’ve done this dozens and dozens of times, I am terrified of what’s to come. This is it, I think to myself. This is the time it all comes crashing down. Today I’ll open my mouth to speak and nothing will come out. Today they’ll finally find out that I’m a fraud.

It’s called ‘impostor syndrome’ and it’s a concept that has firmly cemented itself as part of our working culture. This mixture of feelings has been the subject of academic research, opinion pieces, podcasts, books, televised debates and is increasingly becoming part of everyday vernacular.

Household names from Meryl Streep, to Emma Watson to Oprah have experienced it and admitted that it’s held them back in their careers.

Even the eternally fabulous Emma Watson has said that she suffers from ‘impostor syndrome’. Picture: AFP Photo / Angela Weiss

Everybody is talking about it but what exactly is impostor syndrome? Who suffers from it? How do you know if you have it? Is it actually a problem and if so, what can be done about it?

WHAT IS ‘IMPOSTOR SYNDROME’?

Impostor syndrome is when you experience persistent feelings of inadequacy. It refers to a state of mind where even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary you fear you’re not actually any good at your job.

For example you might be a surgeon who has completed a decades’ worth of medical training but still feel like a fraud when someone calls you doctor. Or you might be a hairdresser, who founded, owns and runs your own salon but would never call yourself an entrepreneur.

Author Valerie Young describes it as “always waiting for the other shoe to drop. You feel as if you’ve flown under the radar, been lucky or that they just like you. If you dismiss your accomplishments and abilities, you’re left with one conclusion: That you’ve fooled them.”

Someone with impostor syndrome lives in a near-constant state of fear. They are scared of being ‘found out’ and discovered for the impostor that they think they are.

HOW DOES IMPOSTOR SYNDROME HOLD PEOPLE BACK?

Impostor syndrome is reinforced cyclically. You get given a task to perform at work and you immediately panic. You’re anxious you won’t be able to pull it off; you’re plagued by self-doubt. So in order to manage those feelings, you might neurotically over-prepare or work way harder than is necessary to complete the task.

An impostor syndrome sufferer works themselves up into a frenzied state. They spend all their time either doing the task or worrying about the task. Once it’s finally complete they don’t experience the normal buzz of accomplishment. Instead they just feel relieved that they didn’t get found out this time.

WHY CAN’T SUFFERERS ENJOY THEIR SUCCESS?

Success reinforces an impostor syndrome sufferer’s feeling of inadequacy. The impostor view the mammoth effort they put into the task as confirmation that — unlike others — they must put in an inordinate amount of hard work to succeed.

Normal people would just do a few hours and get away with it, they reason. But I have to work around the clock for weeks to get by. The very scale of their effort reaffirms the impostor status in their head. Like I said before, it’s a cycle. And it’s a vicious one.

WHO HAS IMPOSTOR SYNDROME?

Impostor syndrome is most commonly observed in women but men can certainly experience it too. It’s also common among high flyers.

By constantly needing to validate their success, sufferers will push themselves to achieve more and more and more and more. They consider themselves unworthy of every promotion or opportunity or new job and so — to avoid being found out — they work twice as hard to keep up the facade of success.

HOW DO YOU FIX IT?

The first step is always recognising that you have a problem, right? Well, when it comes to impostor syndrome the first step is the only step. The only way to overcome impostor syndrome is to recognise and accept that you are not in fact an impostor.

That’s it. You have to accept that you’re actually good at your job and that you earned your position, that you have the experience and the talent to get things done.

Remember this isn’t a formally recognised psychological condition. Impostor syndrome is simply a way that self-doubt manifests for some people. And self-doubt is a really normal and natural part of the human condition. In and of itself, self-doubt isn’t actually a bad thing. It only becomes problematic when it holds you back from enjoying yourself or taking up opportunities. And impostor syndrome does just that.

BUT WHAT IF I’M DIFFERENT? WHAT IF I REALLY AM AN IMPOSTOR?

Look, if you clicked on this headline and read this much of the article? You’re not an impostor. I promise. Actual impostors — people who are really, truly, genuinely faking their abilities and talents — don’t feel like impostors.

Sociologist Jessica Collet describes it like this: “People who are dumb are too dumb to know they’re dumb. They don’t feel at all like frauds — they feel they know exactly what they’re doing and how could other people not know what they’re doing … turns out, they don’t know enough about how little they know”.

Jamila Rizvi is a writer, presenter and news.com.au columnist. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.