Imposter Syndrome, as a coach, is it negatively affecting you?

Imposter Syndrome affects many new coaches or newer coaches and even some veteran coaches, who aren’t as successful as they would like to be. Are you one of them?

Is self-doubt keeping you from:

• moving forward with your career?
• charging clients what you deserve?
• getting out there and being the best coach you can be?

Well, you’re in good company. Maya Angelou, Meryl Steep, Howard Schultz, Albert Einstein, and John Steinbeck all felt the same way at some point in their careers no matter what accomplishments they achieved.

As a matter of fact,  it’s  believed that up to 70% of the population have suffered from it at one time or another.

What is Imposter Syndrome?

Imposter Syndrome is a pattern of thinking where people feel like they are frauds, like they don’t deserve to be successful. It can hold them back from moving forward with their chosen career.

It affects new or newer coaches, sales representatives, newly minted executives in the C-Suite and even people at high levels of government.

The term “imposter syndrome” is a relatively new term. It came about in 1978. Clinical psychologists, Suzanne Imes and Pauline rose Clance interviewed 150 women who where high achievers. Even though there was proof to justify these women’s success, they felt undeserving. They felt they were frauds.

Clance and Imes detailed this in the article, “The Impostor Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention.”

Even though Clance and Imes interviewed women, it equally affects men and women.

Three Famous Examples

Maya Angelou

Even though she received many awards, wrote several best selling books, and inspired thousands of people, she often doubted her accomplishments.

She once said, “I have written eleven books, but each time I think, ‘uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’re going to find me out.”

Howard Schultz

Starbucks is a name that everyone knows. And the man who helped steer that coffee shop into a world-wide phenomenon has admitted to being insecure.

In a New York Times interview, he said, “Very few people, whether you’ve been in that job before or not, get into the seat and believe today that they are now qualified to be the CEO. They’re not going to tell you that, but it’s true.”

Tina Fey

Even with nine Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globes, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, seven Writers Guild Awards, three Producers Guild Awards to her name, Ms. Fey has admitted to feeling like a bit of a fraud.

She once said, “The beauty of the impostor syndrome is you vacillate between extreme egomania, and a complete feeling of: ‘I’m a fraud! Oh god, they’re on to me! I’m a fraud!”

Three successful, accomplished people and the one thing they have in common is having had the feeling of not being deserving of their success at one time or another.

They aren’t alone. Many, many accomplished, famous and talented people all have felt this.

What are some of the causes of Imposter Syndrome?

Imes and Clance believed that some possible factors of imposter syndrome could be:

• Early family dynamics
• Gender stereotypes
• Culture
• Personal attribution style, which is how people tend to explain various life events to themselves

Different Types of Impostor Syndrome

According to the author of “The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women”, Dr. Valerie Young, there are five different types of people who can have feelings of being an imposter.

They are the:

1. Perfectionist
2. Expert
3. Natural Genius
4. Soloist
5. Superman/Superwoman

1. The Perfectionist

You set high standards for yourself. Then, when you are unable to achieve as you expect to, you go into a viscious cycle of self-doubt and worry and think you are inadequate. The slightest hint of not being perfect causes you to feel inadequate, to doubt yourself and worry too much.

2. The Expert

You measure your value and worth by how much you know. You feel that you will never learn enough in the way of skills and knowledge. This means that you feel that you need more time to get stuff done.

Deep down inside you afraid of being perceived as being inexperienced.

3. Natural Genius

You take a huge amount of pride in easily learning new things quickly. You judge yourself on how fast and easy you appear to learn new skills.

If you feel like you are taking too long to get something done self-doubt, worry and feelings of inadequacy start to set in.

4. The Soloist

You enjoy your own company and like to work alone. You believe that asking for help makes you look incompetent and weak.

5. Superman / Superwoman

If you are the Superman/Superwoman type, you often feel like an imposter. You drive yourself very had and work constantly and harder than anyone else. You do this to cover up your insecurities.