Impostor Syndrome is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud”. The most talented people I know, and myself, struggle with it day-in and day-out. General Managers running billion dollar companies. Speakers who command audiences in the thousands. Powerful men and women who still wonder if what they are doing is good enough, or if they are about to be found out for being an imposter. We all suffer from it.
I am convinced there will be a knock on the door one day and a man with a clipboard will be there to tell me that it was all over. That they caught up with me and I would have to get real job now. Since I’m a shit-cook, I’m quite relieved that most of the door knocks so far have been the pizza man.
But Imposter Syndrome doesn’t go away with any form of a success. We assume that successful people don’t feel like frauds but we now know that the opposite is true.
In fact, the most successful people I know don’t question themselves. They question their ideas and their knowledge. They know when they are in too deep and to ask for advice. They use that advice to improve their ideas and to learn.
Our special guest on this week’s podcast is VP Of Marketing for Bristol Motor Speedway, Drew Bedard. He too knows a thing or two about Impostor Syndrome and implore us all to welcome the challenge.
Stalk Drew:
Tag Along with Studio Rhoad: