Achieving your most audacious goals doesn’t happen by accident. Explore the Authority Journey and what it takes to influence, lead, and succeed.
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NOTES:
I’m always surprised when smart, talented people admit to imposter syndrome. Clearly, it’s something we all struggle with. So in this episode, I want to address it head-on: new ways of thinking about it and how to shut it down once and for all.
What’s going on when you start feeling imposter syndrome?
- Are you really as inadequate as you feel?
- Are you in over your head?
- Will people actually agree with those inner feelings and call you out for failing to measure up?
You’re Not Actually an Imposter
1. Every expert or leader has to learn the ropes.
- No one expects you to have perfect mastery when you step into your role.
- No one expects you to know everything.
- So why do we expect that of ourselves?
2. People have hired you, bought from you, or bought into you.
- You owe it to them to step into the authority and leadership they were looking for when they invested in you.
- Cool thing: if you step into it, you’ll develop it.
- As you exercise your skills, you’ll start to build confidence and imposter syndrome will lose its hold.
3. You’re gaining mastery every day.
STORY: Early in my business, strategy call with a prospect.
I had this lightbulb moment when I realized I knew what I was doing — and sounded like it.
Maybe you’ve had a moment like that. Maybe you haven’t yet. But realize this: You’ll have it over and over again. Because as you progress on your Authority Journey™, you’ll notice periodically that you’ve leveled up.
You’ll hear yourself or see yourself doing something you’ve admired in others, and you’ll realize you’re now at a new level of mastery.
The key is to allow yourself to do uncomfortable things, so you can move through the self-doubt to the realization that you do know what you’re doing.
4. You are allowed to be different from everyone else, to say and do things your own way.
- More to the point, you need to, so you’ll stand out from the pack. This is what differentiation is all about.
5. Leaders and experts fail too.
- Leaders step away from “best practices,” test their weird and radical ideas.
- Because of that, they make a lot of mistakes. That doesn’t mean they’re imposters. Neither are you.
- You are a leader. Like the PhD track: publish or perish, you must test or tank… differentiate or disappear.
How do you respond to imposter syndrome?
When you feel like an imposter, look for the root.
- What triggered it?
- What feelings are you dealing with? Fear? Shame? Self-loathing?
- These are clues to where the feelings of inadequacy are coming from.
It’s a mental game, so you have to fight this battle in the mind.
Use the acronym BRAVE to shut down imposter syndrome:
- B: Be the authority. Set trends, don’t follow.
- R: Redefine failure.
- A: Allow mistakes, missteps, and success.
- V: Value your strengths and weaknesses
- E: Embrace the journey. Learning is part of the process of mastering anything.
Here’s the attitude you need to bring:
- No judgments (even of yourself)
- No expectations
- No competing with others (recipe for failure!)
- Just do your best.
You can do a job that you aren’t the best at and still be good.
You don’t have to be the best at everything. What’s important is that:
- You’re doing your best
- You’re improving over time
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s to begin getting consistent results and stepping into your own authority.
