Four Steps to Career Confidence

Lots of words, not many solutions. That’s been my experience with nearly every article I’ve ever read about managing Imposter Syndrome. Every author describes some of the basic tenets of the problem — feeling like you’re a fake or “aren’t supposed to be here.” They describe some of the emotions and behaviors that come up — overpreparing, feeling like if the job isn’t perfect, it’s a failure, deflecting compliments, feeling like you’re constantly jumping over hurdles. But when it comes to actual strategies for addressing these symptoms, the solutions seem to be few and far between. 

One of my biggest challenges with Imposter Syndrome is that to me, it sounds like you feel like you’re a total fraud — you’re in your role with a fake degree and a made-up resume. If you hear that interpretation, you may start to have imposter syndrome about having Imposter Syndrome. You may not look for help or support because it doesn’t seem that bad — you know that very fancy-looking piece of paper hanging up in your office is real because you’ve been paying your student loans every month. Perhaps you’ve stopped looking for help because the advice you see most often is basically “just fake it until you make it,” or “ignore it and it will go away.”

But what if there was an actual strategy you could use to improve your career confidence? What if you realized that a “diagnosis” of Imposter Syndrome doesn’t really matter because nearly everyone could benefit from feeling more confident at work? How would things be different if you had more confidence at work? How would it affect your mental and physical health? Would you feel less anxious or on edge? Would you have a better relationship with your spouse from not coming home so drained from work? Would you have more time for your family or your hobbies from feeling more confident in your work and not extra time over-preparing? Imagine the possibilities and how they could dramatically change your work (and life). 

This sense of possibility is exactly what inspired me to create the Career Confidence Framework, which is a strategic approach to managing imposter syndrome that combines deep self-awareness with actual strategies and action steps in order to mitigate the impact of Imposter Syndrome on your life. Most importantly, the Career Confidence Framework helps you develop a plan that’s unique to you and your goals — no more worrying about whether what’s going on is “really” imposter syndrome or not. We’re focusing on career confidence for the long term. 

The Career Confidence Framework has four pillars, but it’s important to note that this is a holistic model, not a set of steps to progress through. Think of it more as a lens or framework through which to approach this challenge--a toolbox of strategies you can leverage depending on the current situation.

Pillar 1: Self-Awareness

Because everyone’s experience with Imposter Syndrome is different, self-awareness is the first pillar of the Career Confidence framework. You’re an expert in your own experience, so we’re focused here on getting grounded in the data of how Imposter Syndrome shows up for you, specifically. That means understanding what it sounds and looks like in your day-to-day life, exploring where it comes from, and getting a better understanding of the impact it’s having on your life and your ability to reach your goals. Getting a better understanding of your unique skills and strengths is also important, since challenges with Career Confidence can distort your understanding of just how much you’re bringing to the table. When we talk about the pillar of Self-Awareness, we’re also looking to get clearer on the goals and motivations you have for improving your career confidence in the first place--what “better” actually looks like. 

Pillar 2: Short Term Mitigation Strategies

If you’re reading this, it’s likely that you’ve had at least one experience at work that has totally thrown your confidence for a loop. Perhaps you felt a huge wave of panic just before a big client meeting, or maybe you saw an amazing job opportunity but you decided not to apply because you’re “not ready.” The pillar of Short-Term Mitigation focuses on techniques you can employ in the moment to give yourself an immediate confidence boost. The idea here is that by learning why we have Imposter Syndrome flare-ups, we will be better able to change the pattern and reduce their frequency. 

Pillar 3: Long Term Confidence Building

Managing Imposter Syndrome is a long game — you don’t just decide that you’re done with it and then it’s over. And despite what many people think, Imposter Syndrome doesn’t just disappear once you’ve hit a certain level of success — just look at how many incredibly accomplished actors and other public figures talk about how they’re continually grappling with Imposter Syndrome, even with a closet full of awards and achievements that say otherwise. 

Long-term Confidence Building is about taking strategic action to grow your career confidence steadily, over time. This is not about quick fixes to feel more confident about the big presentation you have this afternoon, but rather about gradually moving outside your comfort zone and taking on increasing challenges that build your confidence and help you gain a sense of mastery and accomplishment. 

Pillar 4: Community-Building 

Imposter Syndrome is inherently rooted in comparison — you can’t feel less than or not good enough unless you’re holding yourself up to some sort of metric. The fourth pillar of the Career Confidence Framework is Community Building, and it’s focused on leveraging this element of comparison to create increased confidence for everyone. By focusing on lifting others up and remembering that another person’s successes don’t diminish your own accomplishments, this pillar creates a ripple effect that changes the narrative around confidence, and everyone benefits as a result.

As you can see, the Career Confidence Framework is a totally different approach to managing Imposter Syndrome that moves far beyond “Fake it till you make it.” It recognizes that no two people experience Imposter Syndrome the same way, and offers different tools for managing different situations. Being rooted in self-awareness and having the ability to implement different strategies also increases your feelings of control and power over the situation, which can also have a dramatic effect on your confidence.

Of course, this post was just a very high-level overview of how the four elements of the Career Confidence Framework come together. In my self-paced online course,  Beat Imposter Syndrome: Strategies for Career Confidence, we go through each element of the Framework in much greater detail, exploring more than 25 specific strategies as well as getting a better understanding of why these strategies actually work. Click here for more information about the course and all of the resources I’ve included to help you stop the negative impact Imposter Syndrome is having on your life.