The term Imposter Syndrome has been floating around for over four decades. It was first formalized by researchers Clance & Innes in 1978 who applied the term to an individual’s insecurities around intelligence levels. More recently the description has been expanded to include circumstances in which a person doubts their skills, abilities, and accomplishments. Those struggling with it often say they feel like a fake, a phony, or a fraud in their role/job. Imposter syndrome impacts people in all walks of life and is sometimes felt more keenly by those in leadership positions.
Knowing no boundaries, it an extremely unsettling experience for leaders at all levels to suddenly feel beset with doubts regarding their skills and capabilities. It is especially disconcerting for those are either newly arrived in a much desired and fought for new job, and for who are moving up the ladder into the executive ranks! It is more prevalent and persistently experienced by women in leadership.
Personal mastery, self-awareness, mental fitness, and resiliency are key to navigating around the potholes this road! Having a solid grasp of your values, strengths, purpose, and vision for the future, coupled with resiliency will be anchor points as you move forward. With the right tools in your hands the journey can be a less bumpy and valuable learning experience!
In this series of blogs, we will begin to explore how you can take the wheel, embrace the uncertainty, and perhaps even find a gift or two along the road! We’ll begin with looking at resilience!
Resilience:
Is defined as: ‘the ability to take hard knocks, to weather the storm and to continue to value oneself whatever happens.’ (Cooper, 2000); or, having the ability to recover quickly from failures or setbacks. A resilient person is one who believes in themself, can recognize, and learn from their mistakes, and recovers more quickly from a negative to positive state.
Resilient people demonstrate many of the following characteristics. They:
- Have an internal locus of control.
- Have strong self-esteem and are self-confident.
- They have personal goals.
- Possess a sense of purpose or meaningfulness.
- Can use past successes to confront current challenges.
- Can use humour, patience, tolerance, and optimism to maintain their balance when they experience challenges.
- Can adapt to change.
- Have strong relationships and are not afraid to ask for help.
There are three types of resilience: cognitive, behavioural, and emotional. The Resilient Person is one who can say:
I AM (cognitive resilience): ‘I am a likeable person & respectful of myself & others.’
I CAN (i.e., behavioural resilience): ‘I can find ways to solve problems & I can control myself’.’
I HAVE (i.e., emotional resilience): ‘I have people who love me and people to help me’.
Building Your Resilience:
Resilience is built by developing your self-awareness, by knowing who you are and what you stand for. This is done by discovering and exploring your values, affirming your strengths, defining your purpose, articulating your vision of the future and by becoming mentally fit.
You can begin to this journey by exploring your values through this exercise: https://bit.ly/3Wzxk1n
Being mentally fit is a powerful way to strengthen your resilience even further. Mental fitness is defined as having the ability to quickly shift the balance of power in your brain from those negative self-defeating thoughts to calm, positive thoughts. Building your mental fitness strengthens your ability to recover quicker from setbacks and disappointments, and take calm, clear-headed action. When you build your mental fitness, you strengthen 3 core mental muscles, while simultaneously laying down the foundational neural pathways needed to form those new positive habits and become more resilient!
We do this work through our Positive Intelligence® Coaching Program. If you would like to like to take the first steps towards becoming more resilient and kicking your feelings of imposter syndrome to the curb, please connect with Marilynn at Endless Possibilities Executive Coaching & Consulting for a complimentary conversation: info@epexecutivecoaching.com
