Impostor Sydrome Are You Faking it, and Will They Find Out? Mindy Curnutt TMW Systems / Trimble Navigation

About Me [ 2 ] VP, Information Management, TMW SQL Server MVP SQL Server since 6.5 / 1995 (20 Years) SQLPASS Speaker, 2005, PASS Program Manager 2015 &

Let me tell you a story…

What is Impostor Syndrome? Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon or fraud syndrome) is a term coined in 1978 by clinical psychologists Dr. Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes referring to high-achieving individuals marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a "fraud".

That little voice in your head that says things to you like…

Hey Man. Shhhhhhh….. Play it cool. Don’t say ANYTHING. Keep your mouth SHUT. If you talk, they might figure out that you really don’t know as much as they think you do!

You’re not good enough yet to lead that team

You’re not good enough yet to take on that project

You’re not good enough yet to apply for that job

You’re not good enough yet to speak at that conference

You’re not good enough yet to write that book

You don’t know enough yet You only got that position because you were lucky!

You will FAIL! or worse yet… You’ll get FIRED!

Highly Prevalent in Technical Fields… In the last 5 years, have you had feelings similar to those described by Impostor Syndrome? Survey of 11 IT Professionals in Manager or Above Positions Survey of 42 Microsoft Data Platform MVPs 86% 81%

Let me tell you another story…

What isn’t it?  Dunning-Kruger Effect  In simple words: "people who are too stupid to know how stupid they are"

Impostor Syndrome Symptoms  Dismiss or make excuses when given praise  Praise is uncomfortable, makes you squirm  Feel success is due to luck, fluke, timing  Secretly believe others are more intelligent than you  Super hard working  First into office and/or last out  Over-Achieve on Deliverables, don’t want to be exposed as a “fake”  Don’t want to be perceived as a “slacker”  Not thinking you’re good enough despite clear evidence to the contrary

You’re in Good Company “The exaggerated esteem in which my lifework is held makes me very ill at ease. I feel compelled to think of myself as an involuntary swindler.” - Albert Einstein

You’re in Good Company (About getting an Oscar) “I thought it was a fluke. It was the same way when I walked on the campus at Yale. I thought everybody would find out, and they’d take the Oscar back” – Jodi Foster

You’re in Good Company “I have written eleven books, but each time I think, ‘uh-oh, they’re going to find me out now. I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’re going to find me out’” – Maya Angelou

You’re in Good Company “I still believe that at any time the no-talent police will come and arrest me.” – Mike Myers

You’re in Good Company “Why would anyone want to see me again in a movie? And I don’t know how to act anyway, so why am I doing this?” – Meryl Streep

Let me tell you another story…

Why is it Destructive?  Less inclined to compete for advanced positions  Underpaid?  Fear to pursue new ideas and/or take risks  Hesitate to offer valuable insight, ideas, opinions and solutions Afraid that you’ll expose your “ignorance” Afraid you’ll look like a fool

Why is it Destructive?  Don’t share knowledge with others  Speaking  Blogging  Forums  Twitter Help Hashtags  Whitepapers  Paired Programming (terrifying)  Open Source Contributions  PLAIN FACT: Coding involves regular failure.

Why is it Destructive?  One of two things ends up happening:  Holding back stunts your career, never achieve what you could have  Push too far, go for “ALL THE THINGS!”  Ends up in Burn-Out  Game Over

How does this Happen?  Some theories  Childhood labelling of ability by parents and family  Undeserving reward through childhood, later questioned as adult  My thoughts  Smart people tend to realize there is a lot they don’t know (opposite of the Dunning-Kruger Effect)

How do you Help Yourself?  Knowledge  Simply knowing what it is and that it exists is HUGE.  Knowing how prevalent it is, is HUGE.  You’re not alone! 80%!!! That’s a LOT.  Logic over Emotion  Try to separate FEELINGS from FACT. Just because you feel less intelligent than those around you, it doesn’t mean you actually are! Practice rational thinking.  Positive Thinking  Accentuate the positive. Forgive yourself for the negative.

How do you Help Yourself?  Ideas  Keep a file of nice things that people say about you.  Print up your resume, take your name off of it. Look at it as if you were reading the resume of a stranger. What do you think?  Realize that nobody knows what they’re doing. Think about your parents for a minute…  Find one person you can actually say “I am a fraud” to. Listen to them laugh and tell you you’re nuts.

How do you Help Yourself? Kill your Heroes. Realize that you ARE going to die.

Group Exercise Write on your index card one thing you’ve avoided because you feel like a fraud. Do not include your name or any identifying information. I’ll shuffle them all read some of them back for the group.

Summary “Seriously, I just realized that almost everyone is a fraud, so I try not to feel to bad about it.” – Tina Fey

Summary Don't let your feelings of inadequacy stop you from taking advantage of opportunities when they come around.

 Mindy Curnutt VP, Information Management, TMW Systems  p: M O V I N G Y O U F O R W A R D T H A N K Y O U