Friday, March 18, 2011

Getting over the imposter syndrome

This week I did my interview on the Extraordinary Women TV Show with Shannon Skinner and I am sure you have all been waiting with bated breath to learn what I decided was my proudest moment in my career ☺

Actually it wasn’t easy but after exploring the options with Megan, she helped me clarify for myself what it was – winning the Entrepreneur of the Year Award. I selected this one because I never, ever expected to win, did not have an acceptance speech ready and I valued the recognition from people that I admire and respect. I felt validated.

Like many other women, there are times when I have felt an imposter; that people will catch me and my secret will be out – that I am not really the successful business woman I appear to be.

It is that self-doubt that can hold us back, especially if we become paralyzed in fear.
There is nothing wrong with “faking it until you make it.” And for many of us, that is exactly what we have to do, especially when we are working in a male-dominated arena.

I always remember fashion icon Linda Lundstrom sharing that when she got the call to advise her that she’d won the Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award, she thought they’d got the wrong number. A man, she observed, would more be asking why it took them so long to recognize his talents?

Getting back to the interview. It went well, I think. See what I mean. Certainly after a few minutes, I totally forgot about the cameras which may or may not be good thing – time will tell. I haven’t seen the show yet but we will put it up on the site once we do.

So did you come up with your proudest moment?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the blog. I am going to share this with my women in business mentor group. I find so many women struggle with this exact concept!

Cheers
Trisha Miltimore
www.contagious.ca

The Universe Lady said...

Professionally, my proudest moment was heading up the United Way Campaign when I was with Canada Post Head Office. We raised over a quarter of a million dollars but more importantly - and my goal - was getting the participation rate up from an all time high of 63% to 80.1% bringing us from Bronze to Gold level. I was told it couldn't be done! It was a great day!