“Imposter syndrome”, sometimes called “cheat syndrome”, is a psychological disorder in which successful people are unable to recognize their achievements.
People suffering from this syndrome feel that they are not up to the circumstances or that they do not deserve what they have achieved as a result of their work. But the impressive thing about this story is that its protagonist managed to convert her weakness into an advantage.
A coffee please?
When entrepreneur Sarah Willingham was in her 20s, she was in a position of high responsibility. She was tasked with the challenge of getting the best buys for a famous UK restaurant chain.
The commercial responsibility was huge and depended, in large part, on his negotiation skills to get the best deals and close contracts worth thousands of dollars.
One day, she was two minutes late for an important meeting to discuss the terms of a new contract.
“One of the lawyers, who was sitting at the other end of the table, raised his face and said to me: ‘thank God, I would like a coffee with a little milk and a spoonful of sugar'”, says the businesswoman, who understood immediately that he had mistaken her for an office assistant.
How did the entrepreneur react? She went around, served the lawyer, and asked the other negotiators if anyone else wanted coffee. As no one else wanted, she served herself and sat on the other side of the table, directly opposite the lawyer who had confused her.
When he realized what had happened, Willingham says he was transparent. At that moment, the lawyer understood the assumption that had caused him to make a mistake.
“It was a beautiful moment in my career, really empowering, because I realized that the imposter syndrome became, at that moment, my superpower,” she points out.
“And guess who walked out of that meeting with a good deal?” he asks, a smile on his face.
This is the experience lived by the businesswoman when she faced the prejudices that, for several years, made her feel that she did not deserve the place where she found herself. But by facing her fears head on, she eventually realized that she could handle them and even turn the circumstances in her favor.
The smartest way to learn from mistakes
For many who suffer from imposter syndrome in the working world and often feel that their professional achievements are not deserved and that they are likely to be exposed as a fraud at any moment, everything is very challenging.
The syndrome can hinder the pursuit of success. If you fear that someone will expose your “hoax”, your pressure level will be so high that you may end up hurting your performance due to fear of failure.
But do not need be like that. There is the other side of the coin.
According to the scientific findings of Basima Tewfik, a Labor Studies and Organization Scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in the United States, the behaviors exhibited by “impostors” trying to compensate for their doubts about themselves can generate good professionals.
People suffering from imposter syndrome may outperform their “non-imposter” peers by making room for feelings of inadequacy rather than resisting them.
This means that a characteristic that many people don’t like about themselves can actually motivate them to achieve better performance, according to the results of experiments carried out by Tewfik.
“All of this makes me very emotional,” she says. “It could be an advantage and maybe we should start thinking about taking advantage of it.”
The benefits of feeling like an ‘impostor’
Tewfik’s research indicates that tangible benefits can arise from imposter thoughts in the workplace.
The researcher explains that one of the main points that define the impostor syndrome is the difference between how individuals perceive your competence and how competent you really are.
Therefore, the syndrome is more related to perception and not to performance. In this sense, the difference in perceived professional capacity may not harm the quality of their work after all.
And if self-doubt drives someone to try harder in their interpersonal connections, it can also help them outperform their peers in developing their social skills.
It’s okay to doubt yourself
Organizational psychologist Adam Grant, professor at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, in the United States, says that the academic’s conclusions are innovative, since, historically, the impostor syndrome was considered something exclusively negative.
“His research is breaking new ground by highlighting that imposter thoughts can be a source of energy,” he says. “They can motivate us to work harder to prove something to ourselves and smarter to fill in the gaps in our knowledge and capabilities.”
While there are a number of recommendations to help practitioners try to overcome imposter syndrome, experts believe that the goal really should be to revise the notion that imposter syndrome is purely harmful.
It is true that some people fully believe that they are a fraud. But for most of us, the syndrome manifests itself in the form of common doubts about our ability to meet the challenges we face, according to Grant.
And he adds that while it can cause stress, fear or reduced self-confidence, the syndrome also reveals doubts that are normal and even healthy.
“Instead of paralyzing us, they can boost us”, concludes the expert.
This text was originally published here.
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