The Imposter Syndrome is reducing your bottom line!

Suzanne Mercier - Thursday, December 17, 2009

     I often get told that people should keep their personal lives outside the workplace; that when they come to work they should focus just on work.  Those same people say that they want their employees to be engaged so employee performance and contribution are higher.  I say - you can't have it both ways!  If you want people to be engaged and to deliver higher performance you are asking them to draw on their life experiences, their previous work experiences, their way of thinking, their extra-curricular activities, their reading - anything that influences how they think and behave as well as the results they achieve. 

     So, by the same token, anything that influences how they think and behave is something you should be concerned about too.  And particularly, if that "anything" is as insidious as the Imposter Syndrome.

     Feeling like a fake and fraud, feeling not good enough, wanting to avoid being discovered and exposed are common symptoms of someone experiencing imposterhood.  Attributing their success to the rest of their team, to good luck, to someone else's mistakenly good view of them are also typical symptoms.

     The reason the imposter syndrome is such a significant barrier to employee engagement and performance is that, in the interests of self-preservation, people experiencing the syndrome engage in behaviours to reduce the likelihood they will be exposed. 

     People engaged in feeling like imposters keep themselves separate, become hypervigilant tracking for the possibility of exposure and/or act in a judgemental manner.  They can be prickly or sullen.

     They may withhold themselves and their ideas, take feedback very personally and become defensive.  They might do their best to fit in even if it means sacrificing their talents, perhaps even hide because if they're invisible, they can't be exposed and rejected.  They may also judge others and be vocal in their view of shortcomings.  They may also go for the gold without consideration of risk or consequence whether human or financial.

    If you follow this through, the impact on bottom line is HUGE.  Self-titled imposters don't contribute to innovation, which is the lifeblood of any successful organisation.  They don't take feedback well which limits their capacity to improve their performance.  They may not connect with their colleagues because keeping themselves separate keeps them safe and this impacts on top performing teams, again impacting on performance.  They may undermine morale with their judgement and criticism.  They are difficult to engage at any time, let alone when they are triggered and feeling 'not good enough'.  this means you aren't getting that discretionary effort which translates to higher internal and external customer service, greater advocacy and increased bottom line.

     If you or anyone you know is involved in putting together leadership programmes, management training or an employee engagement initiative, you might like to let them know that their results will be severely diminished by any existing feelings of imposterhood.  And based on extensive research (see our research page), that would be at least 33% of your workforce each and every day!

     What do you think?  I'd love to hear.

Thanks.
Suzanne