How to outsmart Imposter Syndrome in seven steps

Outsmart your Imposter Syndrome

If you have Imposter Syndrome – or, as it’s sometimes known: Chronic Professional Self-Doubt – this course can enable you to outsmart it. For good.

Four out of five people say they have Imposter Syndrome at least some of the time. And the rise of AI seems to be making it worse. So you’re not alone. That matters for two reasons. Not only is it bad for your emotional well-being; it can also be bad news for the operational health of your organisation. It’s a lose-lose situation for everyone.

And, crucially, contrary to what many people think, having Imposter Syndrome is not their fault. It’s not your fault. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it. You can outsmart it. And not just in the short term, but for the rest of your career – whatever lies behind it.

And what then?

One aspect of Imposter Syndrome you may not have considered is how much more you might be able do – for yourself and others – if you were free from that self-doubt. How much more might you dare to dream? How much more innovative might you be, for your own benefit and that of the people your work touches? And if you weren’t constantly carrying that internal heaviness and uncertainty, how much more might your generosity of spirit be able to shine? How much more of a positive impact might your very presence have on those around you – both inside and outside work?

How can this course help you realise that?

We’ll walk you through a series of practical steps which will show you:

• what lies behind your Imposter Syndrome,

• why it’s not your fault, and never has been

• what the solution looks like

• how to identify exactly what you need, so you can feel as confident as you want about everything related to your job

And, perhaps most important of all…

• ...how to safely and credibly talk to others about your needs, so you can have them met – for everyone’s benefit.

What lies behind your Imposter Syndrome?

If you’re like most people, you may have been blaming yourself for feeling like an imposter: “Oh, if only I were better at…” (insert whatever insecurity you like). Or “If only I felt more confident when…” (insert whatever situations or colleagues make you feel a bit wobbly). And maybe you feel it’s safer to put on a brave face, than to put your hand up and say “I don’t get it” or “I need help”.

But what if your Imposter Syndrome’s origins lay not within you, but your employer? (Spoiler – that’s exactly where its origins almost certainly lie – which is why it’s not your fault). Even so, how can you talk to your boss or others about this, without upsetting them, and possibly compromising your career? We’ll show you how. In fact, this is one of the most important parts of the course.

What the solution looks like

A key problem with Imposter Syndrome is that it leaves people trying to cope as best they can with the situations in which they find themselves. But if you’re coping with the symptoms, you may never be getting to their source – which is a shame, because that’s where the forever solution resides. It’s a specific type of confidence which most people, and most organisations, fail to recognise. In fact, they may not even realise it’s possible.

We’ll explain what this type of confidence is, why you need it, and the specific nuts and bolts steps you need to take in order to achieve it.

How to identify exactly what you need

The origins of your Imposter Syndrome can take two very different forms. And you need to know what they are, and what changes you’ll need to secure, in order to bring them to an end. We’ll spell all this out for you, and show you how get super-specific about the changes you need to ask for.

How to safely and credibly talk to others about your needs

Because the origins of your Imposter Syndrome reside within your organisation, you can’t end it without talking to other people within your organisation. And that’s something that scares lots of people (and the reason they’d rather put on a brave face and ‘cope’). But what if we could show you how you can do it super-safely – so your career is protected?

After all, if 80% of people have Imposter Syndrome, it’s more than likely that the people you need to talk to will have it too. And even if they haven’t, the harm it can do to your organisation’s operational well-being is almost certainly something they’ll want to take care of. So, far from harming your career, having those conversations might actually give it a heck of a boost. As long as you’re credible, and can talk about this potentially thorny subject without risking upsetting people. We’ll show you how to do this.

What you’ll walk away with

As a result of having completed this course’s seven steps you’ll walk away understanding:

1. The source not only of your current Imposter Syndrome, but how new situations might trigger it in the future as your career develops, or the workplace changes around you.

2. Three types of ‘confidence’ you need to avoid

3. How Imposter Syndrome can give rise to micro-managing, and increase the risk of burnout.

4. The solution to Imposter Syndrome: a new form of confidence that elevates you (and potentially all your colleagues) beyond Imposter Syndrome.

5. Two key places where that ideal form of confidence is currently hiding in your organisation

6. A series of increasingly healthy attitude shifts you can tap into

7. How to identify the nuts and bolts of all the resources you need

8. How to safely, credibly and compassionately back your key decision-makers into an empowering corner – where they’ll want to give you everything you need to rise above Imposter Syndrome, and stop it ever coming back.

You’ll also have an action plan you can work through,

The course includes

30 mini-lectures (which, together, add up to a smidge over 90 minutes-worth of insights)

Downloadable instructions for each of the seven steps

A super-enthusiastic tutor, who’ll answer any questions you have as quickly as possible.

So, depending on your other commitments, and the pace at which you want to work, you could have everything you need to outsmart Imposter Syndrome in as little as three hours. Having said that, you might want to space out these lessons, partly so you can stay fresh, and partly to give yourself time to let these ideas marinate. There are some big concepts in here which you may want to sit with for a while, so you can see how they can affect your working life. Chances are you’ll get the best results in you pace yourself.

Is it for you?

This course is for you if you if you work in-house – regardless of the role you have, or the level at which you’re employed. Everyone deserves to be free from Imposter Syndrome.

Importantly, it isn’t designed for self-employed people or small business owners. If that’s you, we’re putting together a separate course which should be available soon.