BUSINESS
CAREERS
JOHN
STARZYNSKI
Some high-achieving people
suffer from a terrible insecurity
where they are unable to accept
and enjoy their accomplishments regardless of the level of
success they may have reached
or the external proof of their
competence. There is a deep
sense of intellectual or professional fraudulence.
Dr. Valerie Young has written about the imposter syndrome on her website, impostersyndrome.com.
The imposter syndrome is
associated with highly achieving,
highly successful people. This
makes imposter feelings somewhat different from the concept of
“low self-esteem” because there is
a discrepancy between actual
achievement and the person’s feelings about the achievement that
may not be present in low self
esteem. Imposters fear success
and the responsibility and future
expectations that brings. There is
a huge pressure not to fail. Imposters handle this internalized pressure by being very diligent, using
charm and avoiding any display of
confidence. It is a chronic and
more complex than simply faking
it until you make it. This self-doubt can also paralyze a person
to not try to get a better job, take
on responsibility that he/she is
capable of and, in extreme cases,
quit his/her job because of the
self-imposed pressure where you
think that you are only as good as
your last effort and are afraid to
take on a new challenge.
Since this is internalized,
many people are reluctant to
talk about their fears or seek
any help at all.
In his book, The Imposter
Syndrome, How to Replace Self-
Doubt with Self-Confidence and
Train Your Brain for Success,
John Graden postulates that
messages and lessons learned
as children shape your thinking
about yourself. If you have been
taught to not trust yourself or
your abilities, you may have
issues with your worth. He rec-
ommends working on defining
yourself as objectively as pos-
sible and redefining the messa-
ges you were given and
accepted. This may involve
intense therapy.
do…,” try “How can I…? ”
Develop a positive approach
before you cut off your chance
of achieving what you can.
Dealing with these thinking
patterns is hard work. It means
catching yourself when you go
to a place of distorted thinking
and automatic thoughts to
assess the validity of the
thoughts. It helps if you make
a chart. Write down your
thoughts, as objectively as possible to determine if they are
true or false, write out the evidence to support both views,
decide how you would reframe
those thoughts when (not if)
they come back and keep your
awareness up. Do your own
reality check. Understand the
difference between feelings
and reality. By vigilantly
doing this form of internal
mental exercise, you will
train yourself to see yourself
in a realistic light.
If you find that it is too
tough for you to be objective
about yourself, go to your
partner or a close friend who
will be honest with you to discuss how you are feeling. Ask
for the truth and listen carefully and openly to what you
are being told. After all, the
people you trust and who love
you can give you a more
objective picture and analysis
of your life, accomplishments
and future dreams. Do not blow
them off as just trying to patronise
you to just make you feel better. If
you think that that is what they
will do, find someone else you
know can be fair, impartial and
even impersonal and who will
give you a non-judgmental ear.
Have dinner or a quiet chat at
least once a week. Try to not be
defensive when you hear things
you might not want to hear. Take
the risk of sharing your fears and
dreams. Open up to the possibility that another person can
understand, empathize and help.
Expect wonderful possibilities.
Do you have imposter syndrome?
Do you sometimes shy away from challenges because
of nagging self-doubt?
Do you tend to chalk your accomplishments up to being a
“fluke,” “no big deal” or the fact that people just “like” you?
Do you hate making a mistake, being less than fully
prepared or not doing things perfectly?
Do you tend to feel crushed by even constructive
criticism, seeing it as evidence of “ineptness”?
Do you live in fear of being found out,
discovered, unmasked?
If you answered yes to any of these questions you may suffer
from imposter syndrome.
Dr. Valerie Young has written about the imposter syndrome on
her website, impostersyndrome.com. She includes a quiz to help
you identify whether you are a member of this very prevalent but
dubious club.
Yes No
Do you secretly worry that others will find out that you
are not as bright or capable as they think you are?
When you do succeed, do you think, “Phew, I fooled ‘em this
time but I may not be so lucky next time”?
Do you believe that other people (students, colleagues,
competitors) are smarter or more capable than you?
Learn to say “thank you.” A
classic imposter syndrome
symptom is the discounting or
denial of praise. It may be hard
for you to say those words
because we were taught to be
humble and not brag. You may
have a lingering doubt about
your success. However, when
you say “Thank You” and stop
your brain from carrying on to
tell yourself that the praise is
not deserved, you drive home to
your subconscious that yo eve
that you are an imposter. Find
out where you can go to a “Cog-
nitive Behaviour Therapy”
group to hone your skills of self
awareness. Do the homework
even if you think it is silly. This
is a proven therapeutic model
that can turn your life around.
John Starzynski is the volunteer executive director of the
Ontario Lawyers Assistance
Program and a director of the
Legal Profession Assistance
Conference of the Canadian Bar
Association.
The recession legacy: incremental changes to law firms
Change
Continued From Page 21
matic business oriented
approach; rather than outsource
a service they use with sufficient
frequency, they have opted to
bring that service under their
umbrella of internal offerings.
This is no different than a com-
pany concluding that an inter-
nal technology department is
cheaper than using an external
provider to monitor their server
and website services. This is not
an end to lawyers, rather, it
reinforces the value lawyers pro-
vide to corporations, just from a
more effective price point in
their consumption by the cor-
poration.
While technology may allow the
delivery of legal services to be
automated and streamlined (and
clients will actively seek out these
types of solutions), the process of
answering a question to which no
known answer is readily available
remains a central function for law-
yers, be it on a transaction or in a
trial. In an increasingly knowledge
based economy, these questions
will only continue to increase, and
answering them (thus far) remains
a process to which commoditiza-
tion is not readily applicable.
While the lawyer’s role may be
modified by a changing consump-
tion pattern and efficiencies may
be realized through technological
advancements, the role of the law-
yer remains firmly entrenched in
the world of business into the fore-
seeable future.
Warren Smith is a managing
director with The Counsel Network, a lawyer recruitment and
career consulting firm. He is also
the only Canadian elected to the
Board of Directors for the National
Association of Legal Search Consultants. Shekhar Parmar is a
senior recruitment consultant
with The Counsel Network.
