The Imposter Syndrome Myth

I've had a few conversations of late that reminded me to share why 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 “𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲”: 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲, 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺, 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺.

At the least, many business environments and places where decisions are made 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 with participation in mind from women and people of color, 𝙡𝙚𝙩'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 "𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚" 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝘽𝙔 𝙇𝘼𝙒 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙙/𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚.

So, while I understand that programs to help women and other historically marginalized people overcome “imposter syndrome” are well-meaning, and I know 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 [𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲] 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗮𝘂𝗹𝘁 "𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴", I also think these messages (ironically?) gaslight their intended audiences: “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨!” when, in fact, if 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 – 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂!

Pulling inspiration from nature (see below) and rigorous design research like Caroline Criado Perez’s book 𝙸̲𝚗̲𝚟̲𝚒̲𝚜̲𝚒̲𝚋̲𝚕̲𝚎̲ 𝚆̲𝚘̲𝚖̲𝚎̲𝚗̲, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 -- e.g. how the majority of Global North business and decision-making spaces have been designed for White men exclusively/very much not designed for the participation of the Global Majority -- 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 "How Individuals” Perform" 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙡. Given the work environment is generally man-made (pun obviously intended), with our focus on the conditions of success, 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 “𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲”.

At least that's what I think. How about you? Does imposter syndrome fit for you? What environments do you feel are most inclusive? Drop your thoughts in the comments.