You are outgoing in your personal life. But put you in a meeting at work and you barely say a word. You’re so quiet, you don’t recognise yourself
Not speaking up in meetings is a secret sign of Imposter Syndrome. It’s one of the ways in which you play small, and playing small is one of the 4 work behaviours that is harming your career.
It means that:
- You’re not visible.
- When you’re not visible, people don’t know you.
- When people don’t know you, they can’t see your value.
- When they can’t see your value, you don’t get the recognition and rewards you deserve.
Why, when you are confident and gregarious in your personal life, are you a different person at work?
Because of your Imposter Syndrome. Your biggest fear is of being exposed as a fraud. Speaking up in meetings makes you visible. So it feels too dangerous to expose yourself in this way.
In your personal life, you’re surrounded by family and friends who know and love you. There is no risk of exposure. It feels safe to speak freely and be yourself.
At work, things are different. You can’t rely on those around you to make you feel safe. You have to create safety for yourself.
In this episode, I explain how to do this so that:
- Speaking up doesn’t feel life threatening.
- You can say something no-one agrees with.
- You can say something everyone disagrees with.
- Where getting it wrong doesn’t mean anything about you.
- Where what you say and how you say it is not ‘proof’ that you don’t deserve to be here.
Stop waiting for confidence. Start speaking up in meetings, hesitantly, imperfectly. Be willing to do it again and again, until you become confident.
The way you do this is to know who you are, and trust you are enough. I teach you the practical process for doing this in Imposter Speech Coaching. You follow the 5 step Imposter Speech process to reveal who you are, then create your unique, 5 part Imposter Speech to use as a tool for trusting you are enough. Enrolment for the July 2022 class of Imposter Speech Coaching is coming. Join the waitlist here.