A solid executive personal brand can help you be a better leader in the face of feeling like a fraud, especially the way Delida Costin thinks about it.
I was so inspired by Delida Costin during her August TedX Santa Barbara session, “Defying Imposter Syndrome.” She said, among many amazing things: “You have to run to the hard stuff because that’s where we get better.” Building on that thought, the team at Revealing Genius can vouch that executive personal branding helps leaders be effective when they run to the hard stuff.
Something that fits on the “hard stuff” list for most leaders is imposter syndrome, the subject of Costin’s recent talk. Having clarity about their personal brand has helped many leaders manage imposter syndrome for themselves and others—including the broader aspects of imposter syndrome that Costin adds to the conversation.
Let’s take a moment to talk about what imposter syndrome has often been thought of—and Costin’s new ideas about it. Then let’s explore how executive personal branding can help leaders when they themselves feel like imposters—or when they see others in their organizations feeling that way.
Traditional Imposter Syndrome and a Broader View
In the business world, imposter syndrome has been defined as feeling that you’re a fraud in the workplace, that you’re not truly good at what you do, that you don’t belong. While this internal perception can be real for some people, Costin points out that others don’t experience imposter syndrome internally. Instead, these other professionals are confident they can do their jobs and even successfully grow into increasingly responsible roles. These confident leaders and aspiring leaders feel like imposters because of external, systemic factors—such as being of a generation, gender or race for which our society or an individual organization is not ideally built, Costin explained.
In her TedX, Costin, an attorney, illustrated this point with a story from her own experience, which includes facilitating two initial public offerings, including Pandora. This story comes from when Costin was a young associate in a law firm.
A male partner invited Costin and two other then-associates, both male, to play golf. When Costin arrived, she was told that women weren’t allowed on the green before noon. The partner and the other two associates played golf, leaving Costin to “nurse a Coke” by the pool with the other women and the children. Costin said this was her introduction to being made to feel like an imposter from outside. The system in place didn’t pave the way for her to grow her career while being herself. Instead, it “othered” her, making her feel like an outsider, even an imposter.
Costin explained in her talk that her career has helped her realize the benefit of being a “#defiant imposter” when facing something systemic that makes her feel like something less than she is. Given the golf course situation again today, she said, she might state, “I guess nobody is going to play golf today.” This is an example of what a defiant imposter would say to move the needle toward a more equitable situation for herself and those coming after her.
Costin explained in her talk that as professionals progress in their careers, they have more responsibility to speak up. “As we become more senior, we have the ability to clear those red lights, not just the ones that are internally imposed but also those that are externally imposed,” she said.
The partner that took the group to the golf course that day “didn’t mean to make me feel uncomfortable,” Costin said, but he hadn’t thought things through. According to Costin, the question leaders need to ask and answer is, “How do we help people in this moment when the change (that we need and that would help them) has not yet arrived?”
Executive Personal Branding as a Tool for Transforming Imposter Syndrome
The time-proven Excavate–Tell–Affirm™ executive personal branding process from Revealing Genius is an important tool for overcoming both internal and external imposter syndrome. For more on how it helps with internal imposter syndrome, read this Revealing Genius blog. For more on how it helps overcome external imposter syndrome, read on.
In the excavate part of the process, leaders do exercises that help them clarify who they are, what they stand for, and the big, positive change they’d like their leadership to facilitate in the world. In the affirm step, leaders steep in their brand until they believe in it with conviction. When we support leaders in their efforts to tell others about their brands, they become poised and ready to deliver on their visions. They also are much less vulnerable to feeling like they’re a fraud because they have such clarity about who they are, who they are here to serve and their unique reason to serve.
Believing in their executive personal brands down to their bones also helps leaders we work with gain enough confidence to “defy” external, systemic pressures that can lead to imposter syndrome. In fact, with a fully excavated personal brand, leaders like you are primed to become “defiant imposters,” the kind of leaders who are working to improve and society.
An Example of a ‘Defiant Imposter’
Now an alum of the Brand Leadership Summit from Revealing Genius, Costin herself has been a defiant imposter, using her personal brand to pave the way for others. For example, the dress code for anyone ringing the bell on the New York Stock Exchange is to wear black, gray or blue. When Costin took Pandora public, earning the privilege to ring the bell, she wore white.
“I wanted to be somebody that popped. I wanted the world to see it,” Costin said during the TedX event. “You do it for yourself, but you also do it to inspire and change (the world) for the people behind you.”
Ready to Clarify Your Executive Personal Brand?
If you think having full clarity about yourself as a leader could help you change the world for the better, you’re right! Ready to experience the powerful impact you can make when you facilitate meeting imposter syndrome with brand clarity? We’d be delighted to assist.
First, download our free whitepaper about imposter syndrome. Then learn more through our free 10-minute webinar, Brand Leadership Summit or online course. We’re honored to work with boards and leadership teams as well as individual leaders on your transformation statement and your brand manifesto.
