Managing imposter syndrome

Research shows that the negative effects of imposter syndrome can be mitigated through organisational and social support. Imposter syndrome can cause emotional exhaustion, burnout, work-family conflict, decreased job satisfaction, and low self-esteem in an individual who has been high achieving and competent in their schooling and previous jobs. Ironically, employees with high levels of merit are more likely to suffer from imposter syndrome. For example, about 30pc of medical residents experience it. Self-doubt can arise when people enter challenging new roles or in the wake of personal success. There are often behavioural patterns indicative of imposter syndrome. Does an employee set unrealistically high standards for herself? This might be a sign of maladaptive perfectionism.

(Adapted from “How to Help High Achievers Overcome Imposter Syndrome,” by Morela Hernandez and Christina Lacerenza, published on January 23, 2023, by MIT Sloan Management Review)

Women have to be thin to get ahead

It is rational for ambitious women to try as hard as possible to be thin. That is a tragedy. Studies routinely find that overweight or obese women are paid less than their thinner peers while there is little difference in wages between obese men and men who are in the medically defined “normal” range. All women eventually recognise the importance placed upon their bodies. It is almost impossible to imagine the world any other way. And the fiction that clever and ambitious women, who can measure their worth in the labour market on the basis of their intelligence or education, need pay no attention to their figure is difficult to maintain upon examination of the evidence on how their weight interacts with their wages or income. While social attitudes around weight may have changed over the decades, the economic reality has not.

(Adapted from “The economics of thinness,” published on December 20, 2022, by The Economist)

A female-only club for executives

Chief, the exclusive women’s network open only to female vice presidents and above, has been called the “club with the 60,000-woman wait list.” For individuals, its peer-based mentoring groups and online workshops with the likes of Amal Clooney or Michelle Obama come with a $5800-and-up annual price tag. Access to its glam “clubhouses” in cities like San Francisco and New York runs even more. But now, the executive women’s network is launching a new offering aimed at corporate customers that will not only fast-track membership reviews of employers’ eligible women leaders but also automatically have companies footing the bill. Called Chief Enterprise, the new service could lead to substantial growth at the Series B-funded membership network — as long as employers don’t pull back their spending on diversity commitments or funding of leadership initiatives amid an economic downturn.

(Adapted from “The New Perk For Women Executives: Membership,” by Jena McGregor, published on January 24, 2023, by Forbes)

Shake things up

The new calendar year offers an opportunity to shake things up in a meaningful way — if organisations are intentional about it. Here are some strategies for breathing new life into this notoriously dreary time of year. 1) Get into experimentation mode. The more radical the departure from business as usual, the more likely employees are to break old habits and reexamine what brings out their best. 2) Consider “fail-fast February.” You can crack open underexplored opportunities by designating February (or March) as a month when fast failure will be celebrated. 3) Show unexpected appreciation. If you meet in person, write each team member’s name on the centre of a piece of paper. Then ask their teammates to surround the names with messages describing what they see as each person’s major assets. At the end of the exercise, each team member has a document attesting to their strengths — and a stronger sense of connection to their team. You can do this practice with remote workers using Google docs.

(Adapted from the article “4 Ideas to Beat the New Year Doldrums,” by Rae Ringel, published by the Harvard Business Review)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, January 30th, 2023