Shift your mindset to believe in yourself fully and achieve new performance heights.
Do you ever doubt your professional abilities and wonder if you will be revealed as a fraud—despite your demonstrated high performance as a leader in healthcare? Take heart, as you’re not alone. Plus, executive personal branding, in particular the time-proven Excavate–Tell–Affirm™ process from Revealing Genius, has helped hundreds of leaders like you overcome such feelings and more rapidly achieve the next milestone in their careers.
Is Imposter Syndrome Real?
Oh yes. Imposter syndrome is well-documented and very real.
According to our white paper on the subject, imposter syndrome is “not a diagnosable illness but rather a phenomenon loosely defined as persistent feelings of inadequacy and fraudulence despite evidence to the contrary. Imposter syndrome’s frequency among high achievers … underscores its reputation as enigmatic and in defiance of reality and facts.”
Similarly, the author of the June 2023 Forbes article, “How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome,” acknowledges that “the irony here is that you have to be dedicated and successful … to have imposter syndrome.”
“If you never achieved anything,” the article continues, “you wouldn’t have to wonder if you deserved it. And if you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be worried.”
But don’t just take it from us and Forbes (and the Harvard Business Review, the American Psychological Association and the Cleveland Clinic). The authors of a paper published by the National Institute of Health’s National Library of Medicine/National Institute of Biotechnology Information point to its particular significance in the healthcare field.
“Imposter syndrome is a commonly reported and experienced phenomenon that affects high-functioning, high-achieving individuals, particularly in medicine and healthcare,” they write. “Due to the many potential detrimental effects of this syndrome on these individuals, in addition to the multiple associated co-morbidities, including depression, anxiety and other behavioral health issues, the identification and treatment of those affected with this syndrome are imperative.”
For treatment and management of imposter syndrome, the NIH paper authors suggest “self-reflection for metacognition”—awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes—and “gratitude exercises to focus on what one has accomplished,” among others. Executive personal branding and the Excavate–Tell–Affirm™ process fit right in here. Let’s discuss how.
An Antidote to Imposter Syndrome
When healthcare leaders are experiencing imposter syndrome—and it’s commonly reported that up to 70% of people do at one point or another—it’s difficult for them to believe in themselves and that they make a unique and positive impact on the world. It can be even harder for leaders experiencing this syndrome to talk about their unique genius in ways that advance their careers and visions.
The three steps of the Excavate–Tell–Affirm™ personal branding process are a perfect antidote to these problems.
They are designed to first help a leader authentically excavate what they are best at in the world, then learn to tell others about their uniqueness in appropriate and effective ways, and finally to affirm their brands—until they believe in their brands, and thereby themselves, so deeply they can feel it in their bones.
In all, the executive personal branding process addresses those two key treatment strategies for imposter syndrome suggested by the NIH paper. The process includes a great deal of self-reflection, sets the groundwork for a positive mindset shift and develops deep gratitude for what a leader has accomplished.
Leader Overcomes Imposter Syndrome
To illustrate what we’re talking about, let’s consider an abridged version of the personal branding case study included in the Revealing Genius white paper, “Overcoming Imposter Syndrome.”
In 2020, a late-career, highly compensated executive was downsized from a Fortune 25 healthcare company. She was eager to strategically consider her next career move—a move she hoped would be her last, her “swan song.”
However, despite several decades of significant success at work, our client’s executive resume was, frankly, plain vanilla. The language she had used to describe her remarkable achievements reduced those successes to bland lists of line items that failed to capture her spirit, expertise, core competencies and compelling “why.”
When the possibility she might be experiencing imposter syndrome was brought to her attention, she agreed she had a textbook case, likely influenced by her unexpected unemployment.
Using the Excavate–Tell–Affirm™ process, our client was able to confidently embrace her documented genius. This allowed her to rise above the noise and build out a professional story that was indisputably genuine. Download the free white paper to get the amazing details of what happened next with her career!
You Can Do This, Too
The Excavate–Tell–Affirm™ process enables leaders like you to effectively pinpoint and communicate what they’ve accomplished and why they do the work they do—critical steps in both creating your authentic executive personal brand and overcoming imposter syndrome.
Besides reading our white papers, you may wish to sign up for our complimentary Excavate Your Brand webinar or invest in our newly released online course or 7-Day Summit. If you want to accelerate the process, we provide 1:1 executive coaching options too.
