Coaching World Issue 11: August 2014 | Page 30

When Perception Overrides Reality a heart attack and can’t tell my wife. I’m in over my head, and think maybe I should look for another position at a lower level.” “You’re fired! You’re incompetent!” • “What will I do when they discover that I don’t really know what I’m doing?” “You are a fraud and a fake.” “Did you really think you could Susan M. Hahn, PCC fool people for the rest of As an Executive Coach, your life?” the founding president of ICF Maryland, a workplace mediator and a trainer, Susan works with diverse organizations throughout North America and Europe. In addition to serving as president of Swan Consulting Group, she is an adjunct faculty member for Johns Hopkins University, Notre Dame of Maryland University and the University of Maryland. Susan is a Certified Physician Leadership Coach through the Physician Development Institute and her certifications in mediation were awarded from Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers (MICPEL) and the Baltimore School for Mediation. You can contact her at smHahn@ SwanConsulting.com or +1.410.975.9751. 30 Coaching World These are the words that many professionals fear will be directed at them at any moment. As a result of this threat, confidence, risk-taking and focus are jeopardized, potentially stalling career advancement and satisfaction. These are the hallmarks of what Pauline Rose Clance, Ph.D., and Suzanne Imes, Ph.D., coined as the Impostor Phenomenon (IP) in 1974. IP is a feeling that high achievers experience when they deny that their accomplishments are “real,” or based on their actual skills and abilities. Instead, they attribute their success to external factors, such as luck, timing and the generosity of others. Other common statements (and selftalk) include: • “Sooner or later they will realize I’m a fake.” • “How could I have fooled so many people for so long?” These comments demonstrate that feelings of being an impostor persist in the 21st century. Even the comedian and talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres has commented, “All of us, whether we are in [show] business or not, have little voices that tell us we’re not good enough, and we don’t deserve it.” Workplace Challenges Through my own research on IP, I identified the three most-common workplace behaviors associated with IP: avoidance, over-preparation, and procrastination. Each negatively impacts productivity and engagement, and careers can be derailed by these symptoms. Avoidance Your client may believe that avoiding specific tasks or situations will reduce the likelihood of being “discovered” as an impostor. Tactics include everything from making excuses about her workload to claiming illness. In some cases, individuals will make valuable contributions to a project, but only if they can do so behind the scenes. This way, if less-than-adequate performance is revealed, it will be attributed to the team instead of the individual. As an Executive Coach, I often hear clients express fears about their abilities, despite remarkable success in their careers. I listened to Larry proclaim his fear that it was only a matter of time before “they” realized he was nowhere near as bright, capable or talented as he had led them Procrastination to believe. Anita was certain that she had Immediate impacts of procrastination include achieved the position of chief operating missed deadlines and sub-par work. Over officer only because she knew how to be charming. “I charmed them all,” she told me. time, a habitual procrastinator’s colleagues and superiors are likely to make assumptions “What happens when the charm doesn’t about her intentions, even labeling her as seem charming to them anymore? I know “lazy” or “careless.” As a result, she may be I won’t be able to pull it off.” Jerry began excluded from key projects or passed over to suffer panic attacks daily, fearing that for promotions. intellectual inferiority would end his career. “And I have four children to take care of. I’m Over-preparation waking up every night sweating, with my The tendency to over-prepare can be as incapacitating as avoidance or heart pounding. I keep thinking I’m having