“We Should All Be in Search of Impostor Syndrome.”
Impostor Syndrome is a myth — and businessman and “The Diary of a CEO” podcast host Steven Bartlett alludes to reasons why.
By Tremis Skeete for Product Coalition
Something tells me that when it comes to pursuing success, Steven Bartlett has initiated a dialogue that’s worth real engagement.
Steven seems to be someone whom after years of applying ingenuity while overcoming adversity, and not shying away from experimentation, hard work and determination — he knows how to be successful in business and connect with others with his conversational and marketing abilities.
He also seems to be uniquely capable of distinguishing and discerning between what is fact and what is hyperbole. Here are some things you should know about Steven.
“I’ve spent my life expecting to feel like an impostor everywhere I go every day … My life is supposed to be full of those moments where I’m just absolutely out of my zone of comfort.”
-Steven Bartlett
Born in Botswana to a Nigerian mother and a British father, and raised in southwest England since the age of two, Steven is regarded by many as a serial entrepreneur. He is co-founder of Manchester-based social media marketing company, Social Chain. With a valuation at now over 500-million dollars since 2022, Social Chain caters to clients which include brands such as FIFA, boohoo, Apple Music, BBC, ASOS, Amazon and others.
He’s founded several other companies including the European-based Flight Fund, and San-Francisco based web development company, Thirdweb. Steven is also host of the “The Diary of A CEO” (DOAC) podcast. In 2023, according to Spotify Wrapped, DOAC was ranked in the top ten most popular podcasts worldwide. Steven is also the youngest ever appointed “Dragon” on the BBC hit television series, “Dragons’ Den”.
“We’re getting impostor syndrome wrong.”
In his post on LinkedIn, Steven shares his perspective on the concept of “Impostor Syndrome” and strives to remind others that we need to go beyond buzzwords, reframe our thinking, and find value in getting comfortable with being uncomfortable with success.
However, throughout LinkedIn and other platforms, one can still find many posts in regard to “Impostor Syndrome” and how it negatively impacts them.
Steven’s post is the first example we’ve encountered where he turns the concept upside down and in his favour. In light of this, we wanted to examine the nature of “Impostor Syndrome” so we can view it for what it truly is, as opposed to how it’s popularly being portrayed to people.
What do we know about “Impostor Syndrome”?
According to many sources online, this seems to be the prevailing theme in the definition of “Impostor Syndrome”:
“Doubting your abilities to the point where you feel like a fraud.”
Source: Stack Overflow
Sounds simple enough. It sounds like it’s a case of temporarily having a lack of confidence or self-doubt. It also sounds like what happens when someone has a bad day at work, or a bad day in life. In regard to elaborating on the definition, I don’t see a need to go into details.
We talk about “Impostor Syndrome” so much. Why?
But I must admit, I don’t understand why so many product people talk about “Impostor Syndrome”. From what I can surmise, it sounds like fear in another shape or form. And since we all know from experience that there’s nothing to fear except “fear” itself — then overcoming Impostor Syndrome should be just as easy as overcoming your fears, right?
Apparently it’s not. Well, at least not for many, especially if we as individuals have either chosen for ourselves, or, have been conditioned to believe in — varying and specific definitions for what “success” means when it comes to our respective career and life pursuits.
So ask yourself, did you decide for yourself what success means to you?
Or, did you accept from someone else, an idea of what success should be?
Show me someone who chose the latter, and I can show you someone who doesn’t believe in themselves enough, and they’re not over their fears of failure and fears of success — even when they’re regarded by others as successful. i.e. “Impostor Syndrome.”
If you’re the latter, acknowledge the fears, and let’s move forward, now.
Sometimes with words, we create social problems.
“Impostor Syndrome is such a negative framing of a situation, where really you’re benefiting from tremendous growth.”
-Steven Bartlett
Everything we know and believe as a human species begins with language. It’s a reason why words can have too much power over the mind of a person, if they allow it. And as humans, we’ve created the words and language around the concept that is “Impostor Syndrome.”
Impostor Syndrome based on the definition provided by Stack Overflow sounds strikingly similar to self-doubt and fear. But now as humans, we’ve made so many distinctions between “fear”, “self-doubt”, and “Impostor Syndrome” —so much to the point that, many humans are unable to recognise they’re all one and the same.
We’ve created so many separations between the terms, “fear”, “self-doubt”, and “Impostor Sydrome” — we also seem to be unable to use the same techniques we’ve learned to face and overcome fears, in scenarios where we can face and overcome Impostor Syndrome.
But why do we we distinguish “fear” and “self-doubt” from “Impostor Syndrome”? It’s because historically as a humans, we can’t help but create distinctions, classifications, and separations between things.
And historically, as a trade-off, humans are popularly not great at naturally acknowledging the common traits in things, until it’s too late. It’s a reason why humans historically are known more in regard to events of “conflict” and “war”, than in events of “unity” or “peace”.
Humans are historically not great at thinking in holistic ways i.e. we’re not good at bringing things, and people, together. We’ve been trained to divide and separate everything we experience ever since we were children.
I’ll use myself as an example.
When I was a child growing up, I was taught by “black people” and conditioned to believe that I’m a “black person” and I should be with “black people,” and love “black people” and not like or love or trust other kinds of people, unless other “black people” said it was okay.
I was trained and conditioned to separate my identity and myself from others. But deep inside of myself, I had a problem with that.
I didn’t grow up around just “black people”. I grew up and went to school with all kinds of people, and these people showed me respect and care and love. So what was I supposed to do? Ignore and disregard that love?
Should I just forget that all these people care about me just as much as my so called “black people”? I think not, so I made a different choice.
Instead of regarding myself as a “black person”, I choose, everyday, to regard myself as just a “person” because that is what we all are — people.
My notions of being a “black person” are not driven by what I innately believe. As a matter of fact, many popular notions of what “black people” are supposed to be, or what it means to be “black” or to be “black enough” — many of these ideas conflict with what I deeply believe. These notions are instead, based on what other “black people” taught me to believe.
Does it mean that I’m not proud of my diverse cultural and genetic history and heritage? No, absolutely not.
It means — I’m not proud of how my history and heritage was taught to me.
And now, as a consequence as an adult, I live in a daily psychological war, where I have to constantly fight, and win, and overpower my childhood social conditioning and not distinguish myself as just a “black man” — and regard myself as just a “man”.
Now imagine for just a moment, what it must feel like to have moments when you doubt you’re just a human being and not just a “black person”, to the point you feel like a fraud.
Sometimes it happens to me, but then I move past the feelings, and I feel like myself again. That’s the cost of fighting and winning, and being successful — and it’s a price I pay gladly.
Doesn’t that cycle of “self-doubt” and “success” sound familiar?
“Impostor Syndrome” is problematic social conditioning.
According to pschylogical experts and medical professionals around the globe, “Impostor Syndrome” is not an “official” diagnosis.
Do we understand what this means?
It means — “Impostor Syndrome” is a term that was contrived by others to distinguish a behaviour from something as simple as “self-doubt” or “fear” when it reality, it was not necessary.
Social terms such as “black person” or “brown person” or “white person” were once upon a time, not “official” terms. But we as a global human society have made these terms “official” by our popular use of them, along with “official definitions” of the social problems themselves.
This “official” approach in the long term is problematic, because while it gives the real social challenges and people impacted a greater level of distinction or representation in society — it also exacerbates the challenges because while the official terms and definitions take center stage, the tangible causes of the challenges are unintentionally overlooked.
I don’t mean the social challenges that inspired these terms do not exist.
What I mean is, in the way we’ve chosen to define the terms and challenges, similar to ways we’ve defined the term “Impostor Syndrome” — we have created more red herrings and problems, than genuine solutions.
It’s like what Steven said, “I think it’s just a problem with words.”
Impostor Syndrome is a myth.
“I go in search of impostor syndrome, and I think we should all be in search of Impostor Syndrome, because that’s where all the good things happen.”
-Steven Bartlett
When Steven said that we should be in search of impostor syndrome, that’s his way of recognising that “Impostor Syndrome” is not some disease or disorder that people need therapy or treatment for.
Steven in actuality has shown us that it’s a jumping off point into a future filled with great possibilities. That’s because he knows based on his past and present failures, and past and present success — he’s capable of future success.
“We should all be in search of Impostor Syndrome.” is another way of saying:
“We should all strive to be better than who we are today, no matter how insurmontable the challenges appear to be.”
There’s no need to be intimidated by the term “Impostor Syndrome” and feel like you’re in the dark. Stop defining your self-esteem according to another contrived term, when you can choose to not attach yourself to it.
“Impostor Syndrome” is a fugazi. It’s a myth. It’s not real.
Instead of choosing “Impostor Syndrome”, choose faith, choose sacrifice, choose hard work. Choose honesty, choose determination, choose patience, choose grit.
Choose mistakes you’ve made and lessons you’ve learned. Choose moving forward. Choose letting go of your pain, fear, and self-doubt. Choose growth, choose confidence, choose humility, and most importantly… get to know and love who you are, which is — a product person who is successful.
Watch Steven’s video to find out more. A transcript is also included below.
I’ve spent my life expecting to feel like an impostor everywhere I go every day. That’s the expectation I have in my life. I expect to always be in situations like Dragons’ Den where I look to my left and I see Peter Jones, who’s been there since episode one, and I look to my right and I see Deborah Meaden with all of her facts and figures, and I think what am I doing on the TV? Like genuinely, that’s what I think. I’ve watched that show since I was 12. What am I doing there?
But I should be there because my life is supposed to be full of those moments where I’m just absolutely out of my zone of comfort.
You can change the title [impostor syndrome] and call it a growth moment. And then we’d have a completely different relationship with it.
But impostor syndrome is such a negative framing of a situation where really you’re benefiting from tremendous growth. And if I asked you if you wanted tremendous growth in your life, or to be incredibly engaged, you’d opt for that.
So I think it’s just an issue with words. Because I intuitively know that I’m absolutely meant to be there.
And if I find myself in any situation in my life, whether it’s my businesses or school, where I’m comfortable, or whatever you consider to be the opposite of imposter syndrome. I quit, and I go in search of being that step outside of my zone of comfort.
I go in search of imposter syndrome. And I think we should all be in such an impostor syndrome, because that’s where all the good things happen.
Special thanks to Jon Matheson and William Smith for their research and input which contributed to the development of this article.
