Elevating Laurier Leaders: Imposter Syndrome

May 23, 2019

Good morning everyone and welcome to our third Elevating Laurier Leaders event.

This four-part series is a first for Laurier, bringing together our alumni to build a supportive community of women from diverse industries and backgrounds.

Today’s session is a panel discussion on impostor syndrome – that feeling of being underqualified or ill-equipped, which can persist even as we climb the career ladder, win awards and earn degrees.

It’s a funny feeling, to be surrounded by success but plagued with self-doubt.

And I think that it’s something that everyone experiences at some point in their working lives.

From my experience, many women who achieve a level of success can at times feel like impostors.

They doubt their abilities and they wonder if they deserve the success and titles they have worked so hard to achieve.

This is a normal feeling, especially when you work in a male-dominated field and don’t see many other women or members of other under-represented groups in similar positions.

It’s easy to begin to wonder if you belong – or if you have made a mistake in thinking you could do this job.

I want to reassure you that you do belong.

The women I know who are successful in their fields have had to do extraordinary things to get to where they are.

Sometimes that means being twice as smart and creative. And sometimes it means conforming to cultures that are perhaps not entirely comfortable to you.

As women, we need to quiet the doubts and fears we have as we embark on our professional journeys.

Or, better yet, use those to spur us on to greater achievements.

We learn nothing new if we don’t reach past our current comfort zones.

There will be times that you will feel out of your depth, but always remember this is because you are growing and learning new things.

There is no shame in admitting you have more to learn and asking for help or mentorship.

I also think we need to stop thinking that we’re the ones who don’t fit or who aren’t ready for the next-level job.

We need to be actively asking questions and leading change where needed in our workplaces.

We need to change workplaces so they foster cultures in which development is supportive within a learning environment.

Today, we will hear from a panel of successful women who will share the ways that they get past the negative self-talk and build up their confidence.

I am looking forward to hearing their experiences. I hope that you are too!

Thank you again for joining us and thank you to Laurier’s alumni relations team for their hard work in putting together this series.

I would now like to welcome Danielle back to introduce the panel.