Are you a fast learner battling with imposter syndrome?
I wanted to start this one off by sharing one of my wins.
I did a talk called Navigating Imposter Syndrome in Tech for the London.js community at the Netflix UK office to over 100 people and it went incredibly well!
Ok, now to the juicy stuff.
This one is for all of my self proclaimed fast learners and those who strive to master a skill without having to put that much effort into it.
In this edition, we are unpacking an imposter syndrome type known as "the natural genius".
This type refers to those who often are seen as being good at things on their first try or with ease.
These individuals feel unworthy, guilty and shameful if they cannot easily complete a task or achieve a goal on their first go.
In school, these were the people who didn't put that much work into studying, but managed to still get great grades and be top in their class.
When transitioning from a relatively smaller environment such as school, to a larger one like university or the workplace, they realised that their natural ability isn't unique now they are surrounded by other exceptional people.
They tend to look at professionals in their field, and wonder why they aren't there and look to speed up the process to be like that professional.
Thus, bringing feelings of imposter syndrome by dismissing their own talents (usually as a result of comparison).
I was recently battling with this kind of imposter syndrome from working closely with the tech lead on my team.
Whilst being in awe of his ability to solve problems so quickly, and be super productive, I felt like I needed to be on his level.
And with my scrapping 1 year of commercial experience, with his (at least) 7 years+, I was comparing where I did not compete and I was holding myself to unreachable standards which diminished my confidence.
Experiencing this resulted in me finding it (and sometimes still finding it) difficult to ask questions when I'm stuck, asking questions in a public setting and also challenging to share how I feel with colleagues - all in fear that they will catch on to the fact that I am an imposter!
The main thing I personally have done is to raise my awareness of how I personally experience imposter syndrome - and it has helped me to pause, acknowledge my feelings, and reach out to someone else.
It's also why I started this newsletter, because I want to help others with understanding it and methods that will genuinely help.
I'll share with you, three resources for those battling with this type of imposter syndrome in the workplace:
- See the value of being a learn-it-all: I was listening to the Squiggly Careers podcast and they said the most amazing quote I had come across:
"The learn-it-all will always do better than the know-it-all" - Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
In the episode, they explore shift from being a know it all to now the emphasis on being a learn it all. You can read up more on it here - Support from a mentor - whether this is someone within your organisation or outside, it is essential to ask questions for your learning and development.
I do also believe, the responsibility is shared between you and also your colleagues. Your more experienced colleagues also need to make an effort to reach out to you to check on how you're doing, if they can help, or even simply communicating the value of reaching out for support.
So if you're reading this, please reach out and check in on your colleagues! I'll be doing a whole separate article on this. - Cultivating a growth mindset - a concept originally coined by Carol Dweck, a growth mindset is the idea that your abilities can be developed. People with this mindset don't worry about looking smart, but instead put more effort into getting smarter by taking on challenges and seeing them through. She has done a great talk on this at Google, you can watch that here
In future editions, we will be going in depth with all of these methods.
So, are you a fast learner battling with the "natural genius" type of imposter syndrome? I'd love to know your favourite tip out of the three I gave!
Until next time,
Amber