Imposter or Entitled

A recent coffee with a friend and colleague (thanks Nick) started me thinking about this whole business of imposter syndrome. I’ve written about it before and frequently encounter it as a coach.

Here we were looking at it again, when Nick asked a really interesting question. Is imposter syndrome linked to class and background? As I thought more about it, I began to wonder whether a background of privilege means that the person doesn’t experience Imposter Syndrome. Perhaps a sense of entitlement sweeps away the feelings of being an imposter.

I am going to work with this some more, look at examples and see whether that idea is correct or note. In the meantime, the conversation with Nick moved on as I set out to shift the thinking into a more positive perspective. I asked whether imposter syndrome was a route to reflective practise. If we experience feelings of being an imposter, perhaps we can transform this into a questioning state of mind, a striving to be reflective. And from this came another interesting question – is there a link between imposter syndrome and reflective practise? And if there is, does this mean that people who feel entitled don’t tend to be very reflective.

Thoughts welcome on all of this – comment or message me…

#workingoutloud