EYN#046: When Will You Get Found Out?

I reckon everyone has said this…

"When will I get found out?"

Maybe not out loud, but in their head. There's a voice in your head that says "When will they realise I don't know what I`m doing", "I've never done this before", "They are so much smarter than me".

The dreaded imposter syndrome. I experienced it a few times in corporate life, but I definitely felt it when I started my own business. The more I work closely with people from all levels in the tech sector, from graduates to CTO's the more I realise how common it is.

Months ago I interviewed Jeffrey Snover (EP6 Tech World Human Skills podcast). He invented PowerShell, was one of the most senior techies at Microsoft and now is a Distinguished Engineer at Google. Halfway through our chat he shared he had massive imposter syndrome. I couldn't believe it. One of the most successful technical people I know had imposter syndrome.

So here's a few things to help you manage the imposter beast:

• Be a learner
• It's OK to not know the answer
• Get comfortable being vulnerable
• Be optimistic
• Be kind to yourself

Let's dig into each of these:

Be a Learner

If you invest time in building your capability you can overcome imposter syndrome. If you don't, it might not be imposter syndrome that's the problem, it might be that you don't know what you're doing.

Invest time learning and understanding the technology, industry and professional skills you need. To thrive in tech you need to be a constant learner. You need to commit time and energy to learning new things

Learn principles and you'll be able to work anything out. If you just learn parrot fashion you will always struggle to keep up.

Build a solid foundation that you can have confidence in.

It's OK To Not Know The Answer

The rate of change in the tech world is huge. Old services are constantly updating and new services are released every day. There is no way you can keep up. If you're a learner, you've got a solid foundation but you will never know every answer.

Have confidence. If you don't know the answer, know you will find the answer.

If people ask you a question that you don't know, say "That's a great question. I've not thought about that. Let me find out the answer and get back to you". Then find out the answer and get back to them.

Blaggers get found out pretty quickly in tech.

And in job interview scenarios, tell them how you would go about working out the answer if you don't know it.

Get Comfortable Being Vulnerable

In order to say "I don't know the answer", you need be vulnerable. You need to admit to others that you have gaps, weaknesses and areas to develop.

Which of course we all do! But you need to be comfortable sharing those with others. Learning to be comfortable sharing your vulnerability takes some practice. It's particularly tough because we are knowledge workers. We are paid to solve complex problems, that require knowledge.

But sharing that vulnerability makes you more authentic to others, builds trust and amplifies your influence. Getting comfortable being vulnerable is a great skill to learn.

Be Optimistic

There's lessons on this in my courses and I've written blog articles on this topic before. Being optimistic leads to more success.

• Be positive, you are in charge of your state of mind. Know that you can synthesize happiness and positivity.
• Visualise success, replace your negative thoughts with a positive visualisation of the situation.
• Be grateful, gratitude helps remind you of the great things that you have in your life and create physical positive changes in your brain. 
• Embrace failure as a sign of your progress. FAIL = First Attempt In Learning.

Be Kind To Yourself

Treat yourself like you would your good friend. Often we can be very harsh with ourselves. Imagine what you would say to your good friend in the same situation. Would you be super hard on them or would you be kind, encouraging and pragmatic?

Give yourself a break.

So, if you're wondering when you're gonna be found out, hopefully these tips will help. Have confidence. You got this.

Hope this helps

Ben

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• Podcast:  The latest episode is "Planning Your Cloud Career Journey" with Prasad Rao Check it out on the Elevated You website,  Apple, Spotify, YouTube or Amazon Podcasts.
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