The Imposter Syndrome - Do You Feel Like a Fraud?

There is a disquieting trend emerging among womenstarts talking, give your gremlin a form in your mind -
particularly - that of feeling like a fraud at work, alongand then either try some violence on it, or try
with the accompanying fear and anxiety about beingmetaphorically putting it in a box and hiding it under the
"found out".The Scientific EvidenceThis trend has beenbed.Gremlin-Bash 2: Imagine your gremlin in your mind
investigated scientifically only relatively recently, withand then imagine him/her/it shrinking into the distance,
studies beginning in the seventies, with findings that thewith the associated voice getting quieter and further
people who suffered from this syndrome hadaway.Gremlin-Bash 3: Talk to your gremlin - say thank
significantly high levels of self-doubt and an inability toyou for your opinion, but...Frankly your gremlin is there
internalise their success (Clance & Imes, 1978). Furtherto protect you from hurting yourself - so it does have
research has shown that there is a link between thea function, but it can frequently overstep its mandate.
Impostor Syndrome and high Neuroticism and lowGet it back to the stage at which is does its job, but
Conscientiousness on the Five Factor Model ofyou can over-rule it at any point.AffirmationsA very
Personality (which are Openness, Conscientiousness,simple technique, but one which is often not explained
Extraversion, Agreeableness, & Neuroticism), andproperly - it is not just about saying something to
depression and anxiety were particularly importantyourself several times every morning, you have to
characteristics of those with imposter feelings as wellimagine it in every way and integrate it into your life.
as low self-discipline and perceived competenceThe easiest way to learn how to be confident is to
(Bernard, Dollinger & Ramaniah, 2002). This implies thatact confidently. Think about which behaviours you
there is a tendency for those who score high onwant to have and try them out. It can be difficult to
Neuroticism and low on Conscientiousness to developremember to do them all day long, so integrate some
this syndrome, not that there is a necessarily causaltriggers into your daily routine to help you remember
link between the two.In English Please?Enough of the(such as a special ring, pair of shoes, photo, etc that
science, basically what we have is a set ofyou'll notice throughout the day and which will make
characteristics that you may find rather familiar:you remember). If your affirmation is "I am a confident
depression, anxiety, fear, neuroticism, low self-disciplinewoman", imagine yourself acting confidently in a variety
and a distorted view of reality (the latter particularlyof different situations and also set up triggers so that
through not being able to recognise achievements foryou keep practising throughout the day - every day. It
what they are and instead attributing them to sheertakes 12 weeks to ingrain a habit, so don't expect
luck). While that list is still rather technical, if you thinkinstant results - there is no such thing.The Swish
that you are not 'worthy' for your position at work andTechniqueThis is a wonderfully simple NLP (that's
dread being found out, you have classic symptoms ofNeuro-Linguistic Programming) technique that allows
the syndrome.How many people have it and who areyou to change your thought processes and your
they?What you might not realise is quite howbeliefs.The Basic Technique1. Identify Context. Pick a
pervasive this syndrome is: it is estimated that 30% ofsituation that induces the undesirable feelings - where
the population has some form of this, and that it isor when would you like to behave differently?2.
cross-cultural to the extent that it appears so long asIdentify Cue Image. What do you see in the chosen
people have gone beyond the basic need for survival.situation just before you start doing the behaviour or
You don't see this in people who either are impostersstart the thought process you don't like? Imagine
or who have not achieved a high level of success (ofactually being in the situation, first person narrative.3.
course that latter is subjective, so difficult to pin down).Create Outcome Image. See yourself acting/thinking in
Generally there is a higher tendency for women tothe way you would like to behave/think. In the case of
display symptoms, but it is not unknown for men tothoughts, what associated feelings do you want to
develop it. You can particularly see it in high achievers,have (a good feeling in your belly, a lack of tension in
and the higher incidence in women I would suggestyour forehead etc). In the case of actions, imagine
might be due to the pressure to 'have it all' - the careeryourself doing what you wish you could do instead
and the home life and its associated pressures.How(such as speaking confidently, or not getting frozen in
does it develop?It has been suggested that it developsthe style of the metaphorical rabbit in headlights).4.
when children who are told by their parents that theySwish. Starting with the Cue Image in your mind, big
are wonderful, then meet a challenge (either by beingand bright. Then put a small dark image of the
put in a bigger pond, or by simply encountering aOutcome Picture in the lower right corner of your
subject which they take a while to understand andvision. The small image becomes bigger and brighter
'get') and start getting the feeling that they mayand cover the cue image (which in turn will get dim and
actually not be wonderful, but instead may be averagesmall and shrink into nothing).When you try this for the
or, worse, stupid. External proof of achievements isfirst time, take your time with imposing the new picture
dismissed and instead it is assumed that any successonto the old picture. When you've tried it a few times
is due to luck or through their contacts. Since nothing isyou need to do the Swish very quickly - it has to
ever without a bit of luck, and rarely without askinghappen in less than a second in your mind for it to be
someone you know for help, this is a really viciouseffective.5. Blank Out Screen or open your eyes6.
circle.So what to do?There are many things that youRepeat the Swish five more times.7. Test yourself: try
can do to work on the self-doubt and low confidence,and recall the initial picture again - if the swish has
among which are reality-checking, gremlin-squishing,worked, it should be quite difficult to recall as you have
affirmations, and the swish technique. You may wanttrained your mind to replace that image with another -
to look for more information on these and similaryour Outcome Image.While this technique needs to be
techniques: try the internet and you might want to lookpracticed at home before you can use it at work, it is
at the links on my website: CheckingThis is a simple asvery useful as it takes, literally, one second to do.You
it sounds: you check whether what you're saying iscan also use this for many other situations in which
true or not. If you say that you're not qualified to doyou have self-esteem problems, you can use it for
whatever it is, check whether you are or not - andany set of beliefs you don't want to have anymore.
give due respect to your training and experience. If youThe greatest thing about it is its swiftness to use. In
got a 2:1, but constantly wish you got a first (orless than the time it takes to take a breath you can
equivalent situation), give yourself a break! A 2:1 ishave done at least one swish.Fraud ControlThe most
good. Likewise, if you compare yourself with others allimportant part of personal development, not just
the time, catch yourself and stop. It serves no purposeimproving confidence levels, is that you need to
as you can never know what other people are thinkingrecognise which techniques suit you best - not all of
unless they say so (and then you can never knowthe ones above may suit you, so do some research
whether that's the truth or not). Give yourself a pepand find ones that do. Then you must keep going,
talk and stop wasting your time beating yourselfkeep motivated and really try to integrate these new
up.Gremlin-SquishingAlso known as Gremlin-Bashing,beliefs into your life. A half-hearted attempt is almost
this series of techniques allows you to separate thatas bad as no attempt at all.ReferencesBernard, N. S.,
voice in your head that says 'you'll fail' and take a stickDollinger, S. J., & Ramaniah, N. V. (2002) Applying the
to it. Frequently the first hurdle for those following thisBig Five Personality Factors to the Impostor
technique is that you don't notice when that voicePhenomenon. Journal of Personality Assessment, Vol.
comes into your head and takes over. You might want78, 2, 321-333Clance, P. R. & Imes, S. A. (1978) The
to try writing down a list of your skills and failings andimpostor phenomenon in high achieving women:
seeing which ones really aren't true - the ones thatDynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy:
make you feel self-conscious or depressed tend to beTheory, Research and Practice, 15, 241-247.
your gremlin talking.Gremlin-Bash 1: When your gremlin