Impostor syndrome became a buzz word in psychology and business circles in the 1970s. This is the irrational feeling of a perfectly capable worker, who believes to be unworthy or under-qualified for his or her job, in spite of a sound success record.
It has become a common threat amongst remote workers, who choose, through circumstance or opportunity, to work from home. While working at home can help people be more productive, it could come with the risk of impostor syndrome, which often results in depression or burnout.
Although you and everyone in your network consider you high-performing, you live with a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud. And when you are working alone in your home office, it is easy to fall into a downward spiral of self-doubt.
There are a few aspects specific to the remote work lifestyle that can make anyone’s impostor feelings flare-up. Understanding the reason why you are feeling increased self-doubt, could encourage you to greater awareness and a plan to overcome these mostly unrealistic, destructive feelings.
“People who feel like impostors have unsustainably high self-expectations around competence. No one likes to fail, but impostors experience shame when they fail,” says Dr Valerie Young, author and researcher. For this reason, she believes, so-called “impostors” struggle to internalise positive feedback, dwell on criticism and are over-sensitive when interpreting email answers and senders’ tone and intention.
Perceived negative feedback in a curt email, (probably from a person with a task-oriented Red or Blue temperament) could be devastating to someone suffering from impostor syndrome. Meetings are a great way to connect more directly. However, where logistics or lockdown living make this impractical, video conferencing would be a better way fo communicate. Seeing the manager or peers’ facial expressions and hearing the tone of voice, would put feedback on the project in the right perspective for the fearful “impostor”.
If you are a remote worker and suspect that you suffer from impostor syndrome, request regular check-in meetings with your manager so you don’t only hear from him or her when something is wrong. Consistent low-pressure meetings will help you feel valued and a part of the team.
