Moore women in_leadership_conference-2014 4

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“We’re Not Worthy”:Understanding & Escaping

Impostor Syndrome

Lori Widelitz-CavallucciAmy Silvers

Moore College 2014 Leadership Conference for Women in the Arts #ImpSyn

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@lwcavallucci@A_Silvers#ImpSyn

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“I feel like that every day.”

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“(T)hese women find innumerable

means of negating any external

evidence that contradicts their belief

that they are, in reality,

unintelligent.”

—Clance & Imes, from their 1978 study

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“Impostor Phenomenon designates an internal experience of intellectual phoniness.”

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“I’m not as capable as people think I am.”

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Any praise and recognition leads to discounting the success.

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“My success is due to luck and nothing else.”

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Outperform

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Avoid

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Who Gets Impostor Syndrome?

• People who move into a higher socioeconomic class.

• Famous actors and authors

• Overachievers

• Harvard Business School students

• Women in male-dominated fields

• Humans

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—Meryl Streep

“You think, ‘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?’”

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“The only people without impostor syndrome are impostors.”

—Whitney Hess

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“Sometimes, I feel like my career is an

exercise in ice skating up hill: there are

constantly new skills to learn, new

lessons to learn, new tools to master, and

there is a lot of pressure to be good at a

lot of things.”

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“It's a sort of continuous feeling that my

education and experience aren't good enough,

that I don't actually know anything more than

anyone else does, and that by writing or giving

talks or workshops that I'm just a fraud. And, of

course, everyone will realize it soon, or they're

just being too nice to point out that I don't know

what I'm talking about.”

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“I don't think I am as talented as people tell

me I am. I constantly doubt myself. Every

year at my yearly review, I'm told I'm doing

great when I think I'm doing just ok. You

would think I would gain confidence and

learn from this but I still constantly doubt

myself.”

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“All this talk about being a unicorn I think contributes to a feeling of inadequacy for people who aren't.”

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“I know that I'm not, but I spend

most of my professional life

feeling like a complete fraud.”

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Perception

Reality

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“The beauty of the impostor syndrome is

you vacillate between extreme egomania

and a complete feeling of: ‘I’m a fraud! Oh

God, they’re on to me! I’m a fraud!’ So you

just try to ride the egomania when it comes

and enjoy it, and then slide through the idea

of fraud.”—Tina Fey

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“There's always something new to

learn that pulls you out of your

comfort zone and makes you feel

uneasy, but to me that's the fun of it.”

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Speaking of “comfort zone”…

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Getting outside your comfort zone

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What’s the worst thing that can happen?

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Don't equate expertise with infallibility. We

can be both.

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We only see what others want us to see, including insecurities

and fears.

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Behaviors = changeable

Attributes not changeable

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–Steven Ungerleider, Ph.D.

“…research shows that athletes who envision themselves performing well throughout the day

tend to have these positive visions at night

…reinforcing the image of success in their brains.”

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“As a young designer I recall being shocked at the attention management paid to the random, unapologetic, crap talk, bs ideas coming from my louder, male counterparts. I was always such a practical fixit type of person and had to learn that this kind of idea generation is part of the creative process. So speak up with your wacky, random ideas. And don't apologize.”

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“Speak up, don't get too attached to ideas, it's ok to not know, learn what you

can, look outside the industry for inspiration,

understand that even the boss types are just

guessing!”

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“I think young women need to know that it is okay to take up space. They are taught otherwise so this is a life lesson...something they will work on their entire lives. I think telling them that there are no quick fixes is reassuring. Giving them baby steps or a way to approach their lifelong journey could be helpful. I think young women should be told to trust their gut. They are allowed to ask questions of people (especially when something doesn't feel right, like a concept or direction) even if those people are their superiors. I think it's important for young women to understand what is a structural/systemic issue (i.e. you just work for a crappy boss and in a crappy work environment; it's not you) and to understand where and when they have agency.”

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I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I

was.- Muhammad Ali

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Thanks for listening!

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@lwcavallucci@A_Silvers#ImpSyn