How to deal with imposter syndrome
Last week I wrote about why so many folks in ops experience imposter syndrome.
This week, let's dive into how we can manage and cope with it.
1. Set goals and deliver
One of the best ways to ward off imposter syndrome is to create an environment in which you feel a sense of progress. Setting goals and reaching them consistently boosts your confidence. Share your goals with your manager and your team to ensure accountability.
Setting clear and measurable goals in early stage startups isn't always the easiest, however. So start small. If you're still in the weeds trying to find product-market fit, set goals around talking to customers, answering support tickets, etc.
Remember that for there to be a sense of real progress, these goals have to be actionable and measurable. Stay away from fluffy goals.
2. Track your wins
This may sound somewhat similar to the previous point, but it is different in that a "win" isn't necessarily a goal.
A win could be a new skill you picked up. For example, when I was working at a seed stage startup, I had to create a landing page and learned how to use Webflow. The learning on its own was a win that I was proud of, that I filed away in my win cabinet.
A failure could be a win, if you take valuable lessons out of it.
However you define your wins, jot them down in a notebook and keep a running tab. This way, whenever you're feeling self-doubt creep up, you can refer to this ongoing list to objectively reflect on all of your wins and accomplishments.
Kyrath, Director of Ops at Residently, suggested a similar idea:
"Early on, I had the feeling of 'what have I achieved? How have I contributed?' So I started to create a spreadsheet called All The Things That I Do... I listed all of my projects, my task, the impact that I had and a link to what I produced in that project to this tracker."
Kyrath's approach is an excellent way to not only keep track of your wins, but also showing proof of your work, which I'm a big fan of.
3. Don't compare yourself against others
I find this one to be especially challenging and I blame it partly on my Korean upbringing. But comparing yourself against the highlight reel of what others post or talk about in public will lead to not feeling adequate, which goes hand in hand with imposter syndrome.
To avoid this trap, I constantly remind myself that life is a single-player game, not a multi-player one, and that my progress should be measured only against myself.
It goes back to feeling a sense of progress by comparing where you are today to where you were in the past, and feeling good about it.
4. Be kind to yourself
The simple truth is that no one really knows what they're doing, even if it may appear that everyone but you has it all figured out. So be kinder to yourself.
Recognize that imposter syndrome and all the anxiety and self-doubt that it comes with can be a sign that you're growing and learning. If you were staying stagnant in your role and doing exactly the same thing for years on end - then you probably wouldn't feel like a fraud. So (try to) think of it as a good thing and embrace it.
Appreciate all the opportunities in operations to learn different areas of the business. Recognize that while you might not be going super deep in one niche, you're instead getting well-rounded education in business management.
5. Connect with others
Talking with other people can sometimes be stressful and cause more imposter syndrome - especially if you fall into the trap of comparing yourself against them.
But there are 3 ways of connecting with others that can help alleviate imposter syndrome.
First is connecting with people who have an objective perspective on you and whose opinions you respect and trust. Maybe this person is your mentor or a long-time colleague. Ask them for their perception of you - do they think you're faking it? The more objective you deem them to be, the better - as you'll respect and trust their opinion. Through this conversation, they may also point out areas of improvement for you to work on.
Second is connecting with other people in operations. Even if our day-to-day work might be very different, we still share the similar experience of being generalists in a company full of specialists. Sharing our experiences around feeling like we're faking it can be validating and helps curb imposter syndrome. It becomes easier to recognize imposter syndrome when you realize everyone else feels the same way as you do.
Lastly, connect with folks outside of ops or outside of your company. Volunteer to help organizations / other startups with their ops. Talk to friends in sales or marketing. You'll quickly realize how much of your ops skillset you've been taking for granted when others marvel at how quickly you can spin up a Google Sheet dashboard or lead the most complicated cross-functional project to completion.
So there you have it - recommendations on how to fight imposter syndrome.
Ironically, I feel like an imposter sending this out because I certainly don't have the strongest grip on my own imposter syndrome at times. But I'm sharing what has worked for me in the past, and I hope you find this somewhat useful!
Please let me know if you have any feedback.
Thank you to Kyrath, Adam, Karin, and everyone else who shared their ideas on managing imposter syndrome.