Wikipedia defines imposter syndrome as, “a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a ‘fraud’.” According to Psychology Today, “Instead of acknowledging their capabilities as well as their efforts, they often attribute their accomplishments to external or transient causes, such as luck, good timing, or effort that they cannot regularly expend.”
I have worked with tens of thousands of technology professionals in training classes and one-on-one. In all of these engagements, I’ve noticed that people with the deepest knowledge I’ve seen in a knowledge domain will still say things like:
- “I’m just not qualified to speak at a conference.”
- “I couldn’t write a book on it.”
- They precede statements with, “I could be wrong, but…” when speaking in their deep domain (more later).
It is my firm conviction that, in the tech space, more people struggle with imposter syndrome, or at least impostorism (a short-term bout with imposter syndrome), than in many other domains. However, it is also true that more people struggle with it today in all domains than they did in the past. Why are more people struggling with it today? Social media. End of story. I’m not alone in this assessment either.
Now, I am not jumping on the “abandon social media” bandwagon. I am simply reminding you that, as you use it, you must be aware of one simple fact: experts are wrong, in many cases, as often as they are right. This is particularly true when they step out of their “deep domain.” I define a deep domain as the knowledge area of highest expertise for the individual. If you think of this area of highest expertise as the top of a pyramid and peripheral areas to that as the next level and peripheral areas to those as the next level and so on, that very small area at the top is the area where they are less likely to be wrong. As we go out to each new level of the pyramid, they are more and more likely to be wrong. This concept is shown below:
I discuss deep domains in more detail in Expertise and Deep Domains.
Impostorism is having the feeling of being an imposter. Imposter syndrome is having this feeling when it is not correct. These are my definitions to bring clarity to this discussion. You should experience impostorism if you are an impostor. That is, if you are playing the role of an expert, but do not have expertise, you should fear being discovered. Shame on you. Enough about that.
In reality, I’ve seen far more cases of impostor syndrome than what I refer to as impostorism (though many define them as the same, as stated above, I do not). I know an individual who has written books on a particular technology, blogs about it, speaks about it, engages in the community for that technology, and even helps to build expertise in others, yet he struggles with imposter syndrome. In my observation, some of this comes from personality and life experiences, but much of it, for him, is coming from those he looks up to.
Sadly, many experts do not respect other upcoming experts. Maybe they are just elitist and feel no one can match their capabilities. Maybe its their personality. Maybe they are just jerks (pardon my clarity of speech). Or, maybe, just maybe, they are impostors themselves and fear being discovered. Whatever the driving force, you should not allow such “experts” to impose upon you a feeling of inferiority. I can give the the following guarantees:
- I guarantee: You have experiences related to the technology that they do not.
- I guarantee: You’ve learned something about the technology they do not know – however small it might seem.
- I guarantee: You probably know more than 99% of the people about the technology – particularly if you’re experiencing true imposter syndrome.
- I guarantee: You could add value to them, if they would only allow it.
So, let me give you some advice to help you overcome this issue. First, if someone negates your expertise (and I don’t mean they simply point out something you’re wrong about and you are indeed wrong) stop listening to them. Stop following them. Find other experts who honor and respect the expertise of others.
Second, just keep building your knowledge and experience. You’ll go deeper-and-deeper into your deep domain and will be recognized as an expert by others. As more people recognize your expertise, the comments of the naysayers will matter less and less to you.
Third, who cares what the other experts think about your expertise? I’m not telling you to ignore other experts. You must correct your thinking when it’s wrong. However, as an expert, if you are there to serve other experts, you have a small audience. Instead, if you’re there to serve those who need your expertise, you serve a massive audience. Serve those who need you and learn from those who don’t (or don’t think they do).
I know an expert in a particular technology in which I am also an expert. I have learned much from this person; however, they can also be rude, selfish, self-promoting to the point of harming others, etc. I ignore this person in pretty much all areas where expertise does not exist. I also take the comments made into consideration only for corrective analysis and I do not engage their comments most of the time. This person is usually just focused on proving their position correct and it’s not worth my time to engage it when I actually know they are wrong. My life is easier. I still get to learn from them, but they do not impact my personal worth at all.
Others are so toxic in their demeaning of others that I simply do not follow them on social media. Now, I’m not a blocker, so I may still see their comments on other’s posts, but I don’t have to be inundated with their continual toxicity. And, by the way, that which is toxic to me may not be to you. We derive this from our values after all.
In conclusion, you and only you know what you know. Do not allow others to determine your level of knowledge. Eliminate toxic people from your life if necessary. And keep building your knowledge so you can serve those who actually need your expertise.
-Tom