Fake it till you Make it ... No Thanks!
Jun 01, 2022Do you agree with the term fake it till you make it? I believed it at one point in life until I realized faking it meant I didn't believe in myself. As a new pharmaceutical sales rep. working for a pharmaceutical giant, my job was to talk to Doctors, Nurses, and staff all day about Hypertension and Diabetic medications. These Doctors had fancy titles (as if talking to a Doctor wasn't intimidating enough) like Endocrinologist and Internal Medicine. My job was to convince them to write a script for our ideal patient. On the outside, I had confidence and acted like I had it all together. On the inside, I was a 10-year-old playing and pretending to be just as smart as a Doctor. I felt like an imposter!
Imposter Syndrome is loosely defined as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. It disproportionately affects high-achieving people, who find it difficult to accept their accomplishments. Many question whether they're deserving of accolades. Dr. Shirzad, the author of the New York Times best-selling book Positive Intelligence, calls this insecurity a Saboteur. He was surprised to learn that even successful CEOs described feelings of being inadequate, and undeserving, feared being lucky rather than competent, and feared being fundamentally flawed. That was me even though I passed each training with a 90% or higher and my territory was exceeding sales goals. I felt like I was faking it even when the evidence said otherwise.
Instead of faking it till you make it mentality be of the mindset that you have not mastered this ... yet. Be curious. Pay attention to your actions and mindset and ask yourself:
- What training is still needed to make me feel confident?
- What resources can I tap into?
- Who am I trying to become?
- What consistent action (evidence) would a person in this role honor?
This exercise has helped my clients come up with realistic new habits, let go of unrealistic ones and minimize Imposter Syndrome because they learned how to pay attention to the evidence that supports they are who say they are.
I realized I was not an imposter, I just didn't want to invest more time into becoming a seasoned top-performing Pharmaceutical Sales Rep.
The next time you feel like an imposter, realize these insecurities are universal. Move from insecurity to curiosity, and/or wanting to improve. Be aware of the negative thoughts and pay attention to what you're doing well. Keep the imposter at bay by learning how the neural pathways in your brain can help you avoid being hijacked by the saboteur.
Interested in Positive Intelligence Training for you or your sales team? Let's chat!
Thank you for being part of the High Achievers tribe!
All the best,
Ivette Flower, Positive Intelligence Coach
