Imposter syndrome is a major psychological phenomenon that correlates with success and is extremely prevalent in successful people. It is characterised by people feeling like frauds and being anxious that they will be ‘found out’.
We take a closer look at Imposter Syndrome and discuss various coping strategies for dealing with it in Women at work – Are you faking it? Alternatively, Does Queen Bee Syndrome make women cruel? explores the belief that other junior women coming up behind them are a threat. So the queen bee might decide to be either unpleasant to them or deliberately block their career path.
A guiding hand: “If you had told me when I started this role 18 months ago, that I would be confidently doing what I am doing now in a year or so’s time, I wouldn’t have believed you. I did not think I had the necessary capability. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me, from the person I was then, to the one I am now”.
A quick glance at what has happened to women in the last year during the global pandemic. Some of this impact is as a result of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. However, the continued systemic inequalities which still persist in our society and working environments are still very relevant.
Once again in 2019, we’ve been supporting International Women’s Day with a variety of new blogs on women’s development and mentoring. However, there are some previous very relevant women’s mentoring articles that you might have missed. So here’s a summary of some of our favourites. Enjoy! Continue reading
Have you recently gained a promotion at work? Or are you striving to take the next step in your career? Whatever it may be, making the transition into a leadership role is definitely a great achievement. It’s one you should be excited about.
But, that’s not to say that it doesn’t come with it’s challenges. After all, your previous colleagues may now be your subordinates and your workload may well have tripled. As such, it’s important to manage the move effectively, so you don’t fall at the first hurdle.
To help you out, we’ve pulled together some top tips on how to make a smooth transition into a leadership role. Continue reading
Organisations may face a higher risk of losing female employees who experience female instigated rudeness as they report less satisfaction at work and increased intentions to quit their current jobs in response to these unpleasant experiences. This is according to a new study to be published shortly in the Journal of Applied Psychology by a team led by Allison Gabriel of the University of Arizona.
Queen Bee Syndrome has always been with us, women can be terribly cruel to those underneath them in the hierarchy and pull the ladder up behind them, rather than extend it down to support them in their career progression. If women have had a tough time becoming successful in their career, some women, rather than become the great role model and mentor they could be, feel other junior women coming up behind them are a threat and deciding to either be unpleasant to them or deliberately block their career path.
So how much of an issue is Queen Bee Syndrome in organisations and is it impacting the increase in numbers of women into the Board Room? Continue reading
A closer look at Imposter SyndromeIn my final post for International Women’s Day, I am going to consider the issue of Imposter Syndrome. This can have a dramatic impact on a woman’s ambition. It used to be thought of as the domain of the high woman achiever. However, it is a syndrome also experienced by men.
Amy Cuddy in her book ‘Presence’ talks about it being a female rather than a male issue. She says men are far less likely to talk about it. They fear social punishment for failing to conform to social stereotypes, i.e. that men are assertive and confident. Two psychologists Clance and Imes originally termed the condition from their clinical experience. They found it occurs much less frequently in men and when it does occur, it is far less intense. However, more recent research published by the International Journal of Behavioural Science in 2011, shows that 70% of men and women have experienced it at some point in their lives. Millennial’s may suffer from Imposter Syndrome even more. They have commenced their careers at a time of extreme technological pace, where there are constant comparisons on social media between peer group members.
