Knocking the imposter out of my brain

Up until about a year ago, I had never heard of imposter syndrome. When I did discover its meaning, I was so relieved. You see, imposter syndrome is the feeling that you are incompetent in your role and will soon be exposed as a fraud and failure, all despite evidence that shows the opposite, such as positive feedback from co-workers or strong performance appraisals.

I was relieved because I had felt this way and knowing that others did as well has helped me push away those negative thoughts.

Imposter syndrome is not limited to women, but it does contribute to some of the barriers we women can be guilty of erecting in the path of our own success. This is one the reasons why we launched Advancing Women earlier this year and why we chose breaking down our internal barriers as the main topic for our newest issue, out last week.

 

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