Image provided by Cleveland Clinic’s Health Essentials.
Dear friends,
I feel like I barely made it through the endless conferences, summits, meetings, and convenings of May with my sanity intact (debatable perhaps). The silver lining was finding a lot of inspiration for these emails. So, let’s talk about a frequent companion at professional gatherings: imposter syndrome.
Merriam Webster defines imposter syndrome as “a false and sometimes crippling belief that one's successes are the product of luck or fraud rather than skill.” As I am sure you know, it’s common among high achievers. Women and under-represented minority groups are also more likely than white men to experience imposter syndrome. The extent of imposter syndrome can range from intermittent discomfort to outright paralysis. There is a lot of advice out there about how to overcome imposter syndrome. I want to talk specifically about how I see it play out at conferences.
First of all, after you give an oral presentation or stand in front of a poster, when someone comes up to you and gives you a compliment, they mean it! If your first instinct is to deflect the praise or make a self-deprecating comment, please don’t. Don’t apologize for any of your study’s limitations or bring up a weakness. A gracious thank you opens a conversation beautifully. If your automatic thought is, “this is a nice person who would say that to anyone,” let me assure you that is false. If someone takes the effort to approach you after hearing about your work, they have a genuine interest. This is how professional relationships and collaborations are built! Ask the person who they are and what they do, and what they think the next steps in your work should be, or if they know a journal that might be interested. Ask if they have a card. This is how you find suggested reviewers for manuscripts, external references for advancement, speakers for when you are organizing workshop submissions, etc. I recently saw a very senior researcher approach and talk with one of my mentees after a panel. I joined the conversation just to say, “this praise from this person is very rare, and you two should sit down and talk.”
The other way I see imposter syndrome come up at conferences is when someone says, “What are you up to?” I try not to ask this question, but I have noticed that there is a very wide range of responses. Some people say, “oh, you know, same old,” or, “I’m in [insert new location] now.” Others say, “I’m now working on implementing care management for high-utilizers at multiple clinics in our health systems. It’s awesome!” Which of these actual responses do you think is more engaging?! Please don’t let the thought that you are somehow less accomplished than others at table prevent you from sharing your interests or achievements. If sharing an accomplishment feels like bragging, share a new interest. I told my patient safety colleague Gordy Schiff that I’ve gotten interested in cancer survivorship, and he connected me to his friend via email— the exact person whose papers I’ve been reading for the last few months!
My final piece of advice extends beyond imposter syndrome to well-being at work in general: when you go to meetings and conferences, find your people. They will amplify your accomplishments, normalize our shared challenges, and broaden your network. You know who you “click” with, and it’s OK to spend time with a smaller number of people with whom you have a meaningful connection rather than trying to do a meet-and-greet.
As always, I’ll close with a request that you send me all your good news so I can brag! I would be remiss if I didn’t thank those of you who nominated me for our department’s mentoring award. I was deeply touched by your words and so honored to receive this recognition!
Warmly,
Urmimala