Reframing Imposter Syndrome

I attended a Startup Junkie workshop yesterday, led by the charmingly insightful Permjot Valia, called Startup Strategies. He touched on burnout, where his advice was to always stay personally aligned with the organization. I asked him a follow-up question on imposter syndrome and he quickly (and accurately) stated that anytime he was asked that question, it was by a woman. Never by a man. He admitted that he continually struggles with a response on how to address imposter syndrome, other than building your confidence. He then asked me for my suggestions.

As a writer, I believe in the power of words. So, I responded with a few ways we could reframe the concept of imposter syndrome and am sharing those below. Join me in sharing more insights into how we can reframe this frequent theme for female entrepreneurs.

• Imposter syndrome could be a result of having high emotional intelligence, which women tend to have more of than men. Our high EQ makes us more competent leaders.

• As long as it's signifying that I care immensely and NOT that I'm afraid of people's responses, perhaps imposter syndrome is something I should lean into.

• It could simply be an intense form of humility, another quality of a strong leader.

• If I don't let it stop me or hold me back, it can keep me in check with the goals I want/need to stay aligned with.

• Maybe it's reminding me that this is an incredibly demanding journey so that I keep working really hard toward my goals and don't get complacent.

I will continue to keep talking about imposter syndrome so we can normalize the term and it's not quite so scary. If I can overcome it to build a successful brand, then perhaps other women/marginalized people will see that they can, too.

Not an imposter.