There’s a Syndrome We All Have (Yes, Even You): How to Recognize Imposter Syndrome by Jennifer Coken

After 20 plus years of coaching, nothing pisses me off more than when I see brilliant women playing small, feeling unsatisfied and seriously doubting themselves. They have incredible intelligence and skills that would BLOW. YOUR. MIND. They are known for achieving big things: launching companies, starting nonprofits, managing large teams, writing books (these are HUGE THINGS!). Yet, they can’t see their own greatness. Their own genius. Their own contribution to their company/organization, or their industry or their team.

“Wait, what?” I feel like you’re saying. And those are my thoughts exactly. Like, how can that be possible? But I see it all the time. I’m willing to bet you do, too.

Do you know someone you think is freakin’ brilliant but never has a positive thing to say about their achievements? Or never stops to celebrate them? Or takes them for granted because they think that everyone has the same skill set? Do you know a woman (or several) who seem to have it all but hardly ever seem satisfied?

Every single one of these qualifiers is a sign that they’re suffering from a syndrome that affects us all: imposter syndrome. We all have it. Even you. Whether you recognize it or not.

Frankly, a lot of people have never even heard this term and don’t realize what they are suffering from. But limiting beliefs, self-doubt, fear of being caught as a "fraud" are its main symptoms. I’ll also mention that we don’t talk about it, which is why we don’t know how many of us actually suffer from it.

I’m on a mission to get us all talking about it, owning it and then disrupting it so it quits keeping us small and stopping us on our path to success. Want to know more about the imposter syndrome everyone is suffering from? Here's more information on imposter syndrome. Want to know your unique flavor of it? Take my quiz. 

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