A Perspective to Combat Imposter Syndrome
Like everyone, sometimes I experience Imposter Syndrome, defined by the American Psychological Association as the experience “when high achievers are unable to internalize and accept their success.” For me, this looks like fixating on what I’ve failed to accomplish or--worse--doubting that what I have accomplished is good enough or simply enough.
It’s easy to become fixated on accomplishments.
In some ways, this is normal and expected. We live in a world where our external accomplishments are sometimes the only things that are seen and validated. Our accomplishments can determine the jobs we get, our pay, and who respects us.
Accomplishments sometimes index success; that is, they can provide visible metrics of competence and work ethic. It’s no wonder that we worry about whether our accomplishments are true representations of us.
But they’re only half the story. Necessarily, accomplishments can only signal what we’ve done. They don’t determine the possibility of where we’re going. This was a freeing thought for me. It’s a myth that our accomplishments are predictive. There’s more to each of our successes.
Superpowers are our innate, inimitable, core strengths. And while they can inform and shape our accomplishments, our superpowers are not synonymous with our accomplishments. Our superpowers are our assets.
When I’m feeling underqualified or undeserving of my success, I try to shift away from an accomplishment-oriented mindset and instead focus on my assets--my superpowers. Assets are not about achievements or resume bullet points. They’re part of who I am, which makes them a more reliable gauge for what counts as a win for me personally.
When I have a superpower focus, I’m more easily able to internalize my successes because I’m already focusing on what’s inside. Learning and honing our assets and seeing how they can be stewarded to create a positive impact are how we combat Imposter Syndrome sustainably, not more achievements.
The next time you feel a bout of Imposter Syndrome, brainstorm a list of your assets. Fight the urge to name achievements or accomplishments. Don’t focus on tasks you completed. Instead, focus on qualities, traits, skills, and abilities that make you you. And if you stumble on what those are, as I’ve shared in an earlier post, reach out to a friend, and ask.
Moving into the future, perpetual change is the only constant. So how do we stay ahead of exponential change? In this exclusive interview with ETHRWorld International, I share insights on transformational leadership and mindsets and behaviors that leaders can adopt to take their businesses to the next level. It's all about doubling down on our humanity.
I am really excited to have these ideas reach the business audience in Asia. ETHRWorld is the flagship digital platform for the HR vertical of The Economic Times, Asia's largest and among the world's top 3 English business daily newspapers. Earlier this year, I had given a keynote for The Economic Times CXO Summit APAC and this interview is a wonderful continuation of that talk.
Thank you for reading this issue of Leadership Playbook: Unleashing Your Superpowers! A reason for me in writing this newsletter is to refine the ideas that I’m working on. But I need your help. To do that best, I’d love to know what question you may have on each issue, or how it applies to your situation. Please email questions to me at CoachSanyin@gmail.com and share your feedback with me. THANK YOU!
The next special issue, out July 13, will feature Deb Liu, CEO of Ancestry.
And superpowers builds on my earlier work - The Launch Book. I believe the hero of every book is the reader. So, going forward, I’ll share a picture with you from a reader of The Launch Book. Paid subscribers receive a special monthly issue containing the audio of an excerpt from a chapter each month.