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You’re Not An Expert, And Everyone Knows It

Posted: 11 Dec 2013 09:18 AM PST

impostor syndrome

“You don’t have to be the expert. You can just be an expert.”

Ever heard that before? I don’t know about you, but when I hear that I still think “I hope no one finds out I’m a fake.”

Oliver Burkeman, a writer for The Guardian, calls it “impostor syndrome“, a feeling that you are a fake and a fraud and that, any day now, you’re going to be found out by your co-workers. You might think that if you would get better at your job, maybe acquire more achievements and recognition, the feelings of being a fake will go away.

In fact, in this insecurity-plagued world, it’s quite the opposite.

Why You Feel Like You’re Not An Expert

When you feel like a fake, what is the logical thing you would do to solve the problem?

You’d probably get more education and training, or try to work harder and move up the ladder and get better experience–you might think that if you can close the gap somehow, you’ll get to a point where you think you’ll finally feel like you’re not faking it any more.

The trouble is, those very solutions will likely make you feel even worse, even more like an impostor. Why?

1. You compare yourself to others.

As Burkeman points out, the more experience you get as climb the ladder at work, the more impressive the people you’ll be surrounded by and the more likely you’ll feel that you are a fake compared to them.

Comparing yourself to others is foolish. They likely have the same feelings and are doing the same thing you are: creating an illusion of confidence. And yet, we compare. We compare things such as:

How many more hours, before or after regular work hours, they put in compared to you.
How much they get done during the day compared to you.
How vocal and assertive they are at work compared to you.
How their work ethic is perceived by your manager as compared to you.
How much recognition and accolades they receive compared to you.

Comparing yourself to others in order to establish who is a fraud and who isn’t, is apples and oranges. Each person functions and works in a unique way. Quantity, output, and other obvious things you can measure have little to do with whether or not you’re an impostor.

2. You become aware of all that you don’t know.

The more you learn, the less you know.

You’ve heard that statement before, but have you ever realized how true it was? Trying to beat feelings of impostorism by learning more and getting more education or experience makes you realize how little you actually know. It opens your eyes to the amount of knowledge and level of expertise that you have absolutely no grasp on.

It’s easy to forget that you have learned more and are more experienced, and instead focus on what you don’t know. In other words, you feel even more like an impostor than when you knew less.

3. Perfectionism will always fail.

Your push towards perfectionism quickly becomes a mini religion, and it’s going to fail you. Or, at the very least, fail the people around you. Personal philosophies that confuse excellence with perfectionism, and enforce that on themselves and the people working around them create a sense of failure.

“My job is X, but I can’t seem to do it well enough, so I guess I’m not qualified for this job.”

Micromanaging others feeds their sense that they aren’t able to do it on their own, and that they are an impostor. Have you ever felt, at the start, that you were capable only to realize after time that you seem to have regressed? The danger with this situation is if you believe it, your work will start to reflect it. You won’t get better, you’ll get worse.

Feel like a fraud at work? So does everyone else. #ImpostorSyndrome
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What That Means For Your Job

When you feel like an impostor, you’ll either hide it well and live with a certain level of fear-related stress, or eventually leave your job. Women are particularly susceptible to impostor syndrome (though men are not exempt) and will often leave a job for one “lower” than what they gave up.

Think about it: if you feel you weren’t qualified or your self-confidence takes a hit, you will certainly start sliding out the door at your job because you don’t think you belong. This is especially true if you want to do great work and you think you aren’t able to do that anymore. If you leave your job, what are the chances that you’re going to look for a similar job? You won’t have the confidence to sell yourself to a new employer on that skill set. You’ll think you need a lesser job, one that you can “handle.”

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. -- Eleanor Roosevelt Click To Tweet

Is There A Solution?

Burkeman says that the only solution is for those who are higher up the ladder than you ought to be more forthcoming about their own insecurities. This isn’t going to be a popular solution; the illusion of power and strength is what many people use to hold on to their position and fight their own feelings of being a fake. Women are especially prone to not wanting to reveal their real feelings and struggles once they have achieved a high level of success, because they don’t want to be seen as fitting a weak stereotype. They want to exude strength at all costs.

Instead of waiting for someone else to do something to reassure you, consider what you can do yourself.

Understand that like everyone else, you don’t know everything. All of those other know-nothings still managed to keep this world going for centuries. So can you.
You don’t have to march to the beat of someone else’s drum. Stop comparing yourself, the way you work, and how you function. If you’re doing your best, that’s the best you can do. Don’t be enslaved by someone else’s habits, methods, or abilities. You have your own.
Refuse to feel inferior. If you’re doing your best and are learning as you go, you are not inferior.

One final irony about impostor syndrome?

The people who really are a fraud rarely experience the feeling of being an impostor. Their success as a fraud is partly due to the fact that they have the confidence that doesn’t even allow them to consider that they are faking it.