How To Overcome Introversion And Imposter Syndrome

A lot of people have related to introversion and imposter syndrome in their lives. Today, many people out there are introverts and are dealing with imposter syndrome.

The introversion and imposter syndrome has become a common case facing even those at the executive levels. However, many have been able to successfully get past it despite a great deal of work required. Having been through a lot of companies, I had a fear of success in this imposter syndrome like am I good enough, am I ever be going to be good enough and if I am promoted when are they going to find me out. I was afraid of success and having more people report to me. I was afraid of taking on more work and having bigger roles yet; I had to be more vocal and do those things. I experienced an inner struggle but people saw things within me that maybe I didn’t see. I started to learn and lean into them and here are some tips that I used towards my success.

1. Always prepare ahead of time

You need to be prepared ahead of time. If it's a meeting, make sure you have an agenda and send it ahead of time to everyone's expectations since there may also be some introverts on your team who need to prepare. That will enable them to look at the agenda and prepare ahead of time if they have anything that they want to talk about.

For big conversations, it’s good to have a presentation ready like a keynote, Google slides or PowerPoint to help you stay on task and track and give you visual cues to make sure that your mind is lining up with the things that you wanted to mention.

2. Lean into your strengths

If you are a writer, lean into your strength of writing because, for example, sending out a weekly email or using Slack as your form of communication can enable you to have your weekly leadership meetings and stay connected to the rest of your team.

Therefore, lean into your strengths and the way you connect with your people. Spending at least 10–15 minutes with each person on your team talking about their work shows how important they are in the meeting. Additionally, they know you care about the work they are doing, and that’s what matters.

3. Find ways to inspire and motivate

This may not apply to everybody however, you can inspire and motivate others by asking those great stimulating questions not necessarily about their work or the work that the company is doing.

Often bring examples like inspirational and motivational work from outside to give your team a perspective that they are not on their own. You need to talk to your team because it’s great to be motivational and inspirational. If you can use inspirational and motivational language, it becomes another way for people to see you as inspiring. Additionally, in your mind, you also get the platform to deal with your imposter syndrome.

4. Be authentic and vulnerable

When people see their leaders dealing with and talking about introversion and imposter syndrome, that normalizes it, makes it more approachable, and makes it okay for people to understand that there’s no problem dealing with imposter syndrome. As a leader, inspire your team to do their work, and they will move past that.

Again, be vulnerable and let your personality show in everything that you do. It should come through in your communication for people to have a good idea of who you are as a person to trust you and respect more. They want to know that you are an authentic leader and that you can be vulnerable. You can share the things you are struggling with, and that will make it okay for them too.

Conclusion

These tips offer some ways to deal with introversion and imposter syndrome. There is no blueprint to deal with these problems, but if you lean into your strengths, are vulnerable and authentic, motivate and inspire others, and are prepared, you will find your path and way to being a successful leader.

The main thing is to be true to yourself and know what you are dealing with, as well as share it with other people because they are probably dealing with it too.

Learn more tips like this and more in my Prepared Leaders: Essentials for Effective Leaders course or my premium 6-Figure Leadership Course. Lay a strong foundation for leadership and get coached personally by me, Rico Nasol.