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The imposter syndrome – it can be damaging to everyone

I have mentioned several times about good people standing up, because that is what good people do they stand up. Having said that, and more specifically having said that to a bunch of good people I want to talk about something that you might not have heard of. Its called imposter syndrome.

This is where someone who is qualified to discuss a topic or situation does not because they feel as though what they have to say isn’t going to be helpful. They think that they should sit and wait for someone more qualified to talk about the topic.

This person doesn’t view themselves as someone that really does bring the correct information to the table so they feel like they would be an imposter if they put themselves out as an expert. This happens regardless of how much or how qualified this person really is Imposter syndrome has kept a lot of voices quite that should be heard. Now I am not saying that all opinions are good and that everyone has a valid point or voice, however, a lot of us should be talking that are not.

For instance, I am not a particle physicist, so on that topic I keep my mouth closed, health and wellness I talk a lot. If you have expertise in a topic start sharing your thoughts. Stand up and talk about what you know. You might be the expert in the room and not know it. You might have a piece of information that really changes things. As an example, I was recently in a room of medical personal many of whom had been practicing for years and I would say everyone there was really good at their job, thus experts.

We had cardiologist, orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons and there was a nurse that had been out of school and on the job for about 6 months. She was there to help one of the surgeons. She, as it turned out to be, had the most information on delivering babies because she had helped do it a couple of times and none of us had.

So, the 26 year old brand new nurse got to explain to this room of seasoned docs how things go as far as delivering a baby. Now is she as qualified as the OBGYN that has been doing this for 20 years, no she is not. However, was she the most qualified person in the room on this topic, yes she was. It also happened that the information she gave us actually was quite helpful.

So remember that your voice can have merit and your information can be important. Share what you know it’s often important.

Looking forward to personal interaction with you on our open social channels.

Dr. Matt Chalmers