Just One LEARNING Bite

TED-Ed Video: ‘How to beat impostor syndrome’

‘The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.’ (Albert Einstein)

Imposter Syndrome is our topic in Just One Learning Bite this week!

From Maya Angelou and Albert Einstein, what we call imposter syndrome (or phenomenon) is very common among people who we call high achievers!

I see it in myself in the form of thoughts, feelings, questions like:
* ‘could I have done this better?’
* ‘what if there is something else and better that I need to know, do, say?’
* ‘was that decision smart enough, good enough, informed enough?’, and so on.

I see it (sometimes mirrored) in my clients’ stories:
* ‘I’m not sure I did the right thing, I’m sure someone else would have thought of something better’;
* ‘I feel I’m leading more intuitively.
* ‘I do get great feedback, which surprises me, because I don’t think I did anything special / I don’t think I’m that good.’

Part of this is also related to The Dunning–Kruger effect: ‘a cognitive bias whereby people with low ability, expertise, or experience regarding a type of task or area of knowledge tend to overestimate their ability or knowledge.
Some researchers also include the opposite effect for high performers: their tendency to underestimate their skills.’

I see that all the time – and I do that too: that tendency we have to take our strong skills for granted and think they come as easy to everyone else.

And I think, on the one hand, us questioning our skills and abilities is good, because that’s what keeps us not settling for the good enough, just maybe for ‘good enough for NOW’. Which allows us to continuously learn, improve, grow.

On the other hand, it can definitely be a bummer when, you know, we’d rather get a bit of extra poise and confidence than self-doubt.

So, for today, I’m sharing this insightful TED-Ed video on what imposter syndrome is, who it affects and what you can do about it when it kicks in.

Lead Different – this week, too:).

Game On: what’s a learning bite you’d like to share?

Roxana