Stephanie Butler, Voices Who Will:
Imposter Syndrome is one of the most talked about trends in the world. In fact, when you google search “imposter syndrome,” over 5 million results will pop up. If you’re attending a women’s conference, the topic “overcoming imposter syndrome” will likely be on the agenda. And if you ask a man if he has imposter syndrome, he’ll likely respond with, “what’s imposter syndrome?” 

This phenomenon has existed for decades–since 1978 to be exact. It has largely been defined as “the condition of feeling anxious and not experiencing success internally, despite being high-performing in external, objective ways.” However, in more recent years, people everywhere have begun to use this phrase to describe nerves before a speech, anxiety before a big meeting, or even discomfort at networking events. In other words, we are labeling universally normal feelings as “imposter syndrome” instead of simply saying like it is: nerves, anxiety, and discomfort. 

My thoughts? We should get rid of the phrase “imposter syndrome” altogether.
A Harvard Business Review article, “Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome,” by Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey explains why the term can be problematic for women and ultimately, influenced my perspective of just not “doing” it anymore. 

The term “Imposter Syndrome” is WAY too extreme

The HBR article describes how “imposter” and “syndrome” are two very historically charged, extreme words to describe the feelings that many women feel. It’s normal for people everywhere to feel nervous, anxious, or unsure of themselves when there is a big opportunity in front of them. I’ve coached public speaking for almost ten years and can vouch that those feelings are not unique. But imposter–a word that is synonymous with fraud; and syndrome–a kind of diagnosis (historically associated with women) are extreme ways to describe feelings that are very common for a lot of people. The women that I coach often come to me before their speeches with feelings of nerves and say, “I think I’m suffering from imposter syndrome.” In response, I ask, ”Why are you the right person to speak about this topic?” Almost every time, I get an answer that speaks to their credibility, power, and competence. Right then, I remind them–this is not imposter syndrome–this is a normal case of the nerves and all it means is that you care. This distinction is incredibly important because believing that the butterflies in your stomach means you’re excited, is a much lighter load to carry than telling yourself, “I feel like a fraud.” It frees up energy inside of you to focus on the task at hand, whatever that might be for you. 

This is not imposter syndrome–this is a normal case of the nerves and all it means is that you care. 

We misdiagnose ourselves too often

More often than not, the content released about imposter syndrome is focused on overcoming imposter syndrome as opposed to understanding exactly what it is. So naturally, women tend to jump to conclusions and assume that it’s something they suffer from before examining what it is, why it exists, and what causes it. This results in many women internalizing feelings of imposter syndrome even if they’re not experiencing it. It’s easy to do–in fact, I’ve done it myself. I was an intern out of college and found myself at a seminar with the company’s Women’s Network about–yes, you guessed it–“Overcoming Imposter Syndrome.” I remember sitting in the audience when the speaker took us through an exercise. We all had to close our eyes and picture two different places–one that felt comfortable and one that felt uncomfortable. When she asked us if a picture of work, being on stage, speaking in a boardroom, or other workplace environments came to mind when we thought about being uncomfortable, many of us said yes. That then translated into us having imposter syndrome and needing to learn how to overcome it.

I’m sure you can identify what was wrong with this exercise. Instead of truly understanding what imposter syndrome is, how it was developed, and the type of people who experience it, we instead translated the mere feeling of discomfort with being an imposter. As a young female professional, from then on, I had convinced myself that this was yet another obstacle in the workforce that I would need to overcome. Maybe it wasn’t directly happening to me right then and there, but it was too late. I had already misdiagnosed myself with imposter syndrome and I didn’t even truly know what it meant.

Instead of truly understanding what imposter syndrome is, how it was developed, and the type of people who experience it, we instead translated the mere feeling of discomfort with being an imposter.

You are not the one causing your imposter syndrome 

So let’s dig in a bit more because the thing that “cured” me from my own imposter syndrome was understanding exactly where that feeling comes from. The most important thing to note about imposter syndrome is that “the impact of systemic racism, classism, xenophobia, and other biases was categorically absent when the concept of imposter syndrome was developed.” The reason this is so important is that these concepts help explain why imposter syndrome exists in the first place. Think about why you may feel unsure about yourself in the moments you claim to have “imposter syndrome.” Is it because of the microaggressions you experience at work? The lack of women representation in leadership? The gender pay gap? The interruptions you fight every day? And so much more when it comes to intersectionality. 

Bottom line? You are not the one causing your imposter syndrome. The reason that is important? That means, it’s not your responsibility to overcome. Imposter syndrome seeps into so many areas of women’s lives when it just shouldn’t. I hosted a pop-up session on the topic a few months ago, and I walked away from it feeling so unresolved. Our group went ‘round and ‘round explaining the feelings we feel but as we got to the solutions, we listed the same solutions we’ve heard over and over. We talked about:

• Understanding your value
• Connecting with a mentor
• Reframing our thoughts
• Say daily affirmations

Bottom line? You are not the one causing your imposter syndrome. 

But given that the term has been kickin’ since 1978 and women are still struggling with these issues, I don’t think any of those solutions are working. Want to know why? Because those solutions revolve around solutions for us when it’s not our problem to solve. That responsibility is on the workplaces that we work in every single day. So at the end of the day, I adopted a phrase from a podcaster and decided that “I just don’t do imposter syndrome.” Don’t get me wrong–I do other things. I do nervous, I do anxious, I even do scared sometimes. But labeling my experiences with a blanket term that contextually isn’t complete, is historically charged, and requires me to carry an even heavier load than the feelings it’s describing, doesn’t feel good for my career development or my mental health. I’d guess and say it doesn’t feel good for you either.

So instead of those solutions up above, join me in something like this instead:

After they explain the term to you–tell them to come read this blog. 

Forget the term ever existed (it’s okay because it was largely inaccurate anyways)

If someone brings the term up to you, do what my boyfriend did when I brought it up to him and ask “what’s imposter syndrome?”