If you only knew me

You most likely have heard the term “Impostor Syndrome.” It refers to the fear that, if people you knew truly were aware of your abilities, you would no longer be working in the position for which you were hired. They would see you as a charlatan barely able to navigate the workday. It would take the majority of your energy to keep up the façade. In reality your performance is seen by others as at least adequate to carry on through the day. When the Impostor Syndrome is active, ask yourself what it is in particular that generates that insecurity. If it is related to anything that might be accurate, you can always create a plan to address it. For instance, you may fall short on a skill on some aspect of working with a computer. Here is an opportunity to identify a resource to remediate that. It could be asking a coworker to teach you how to perform that task or find a tutorial or class to learn the skill. It isn’t a sign of weakness to ask for help when you need it. At the same time, there may be a skill that you possess that you could share with another. None of us is perfect and we can always benefit from adding to our repertoire of skills. What is an area in which you think you fall short in the eyes of others and what steps can you take to change that?

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