As a certified leadership coach, I work with leaders who struggle with impostor syndrome – those negative voices telling you you’re not good enough or don’t know enough. If you can relate, you’re not alone.
As a solo entrepreneur, I’ve struggled with imposter syndrome as well. I struggled the most when creating and delivering workshops and presentations.
The issue was me comparing myself to others. My inner critics would say, “You’re not as good as so and so,” “You will never measure up to that person because they are better than you.” My inner voices would also say, “What the heck do you know about this topic area?” and “They know more than you.”
I often second-guessed myself wondering if my work was good enough, if it was creative enough. I would also be asking myself, “How would she say this?”
Then, when it came time to deliver the presentations and the workshops, my inner critics reared their ugly heads again and said, “Who are you to say these things? “Why should they listen to you? “and “You’re going to bore them.” Ouch.
These thoughts stressed me out, and I realized that I had a choice to make – I had to stop this toxic inner dialogue or stop doing this work, which I was not willing to do.
So, I decided to do something about the negative thoughts.
As a coach, I use lots of different tools to support leaders. I coached myself and started reframing my negative thoughts to positive ones to flip the script.
I considered what made me unique and different from other trainers and coaches. I focused on my special skills, knowledge, and attitude. Once I started doing this, I could better manage the negative thoughts, making me feel more confident about the content and my leadership presence.
Positive Intelligence: Strengthen Your Mental Fitness Level
Another tool I now use to help grow my confidence and leadership presence is Positive Intelligence®, created by Shirzad Chamine, and it has been a game changer.
Positive Intelligence® is all about strengthening our mental fitness which is our capacity to respond to life’s challenges with a positive rather than a negative mindset.
Saboteurs
I know now that the inner critics I was experiencing were my saboteurs. The Judge and my stickler accomplice saboteurs were responsible for much of my stress and negative mind chatter.
The Sage
The counterpart to the Saboteurs is the Sage, which generates positive emotions while handling life’s challenges.
The Sage is responsible for empathy, compassion, gratitude, curiosity, the joy of creativity, and calm, clear-headed action. The five Sage strategies are empathize, explore, innovate, navigate, and activate.
The Saboteur voices that compared me to others are not gone, but through Positive Intelligence®, using the five Sage strategies, I have been able to lower their volume. My Saboteurs are losing power, and I am more in command of my thoughts and emotions.
Positive Intelligence® helps me everyday and it can help you as well. If you’re ready to power up your leadership presence and address impostor syndrome, join my colleague, Anita, the Passionista, Torres, PCC, and me in our live virtual program called, ‘Power UP Your Leadership Presence: How to Beat Impostor Syndrome.’
This virtual and highly interactive program is designed to help women leaders develop strategies to combat impostor syndrome and cultivate self-worth and self-confidence, which are essential for overall well-being and success.
