Media trainer Susan Harrow
Is imposter syndrome holding you back from attracting right-fit clients?
A senior manager at a financial firm (let’s call her Melinda) was an experienced speaker and presenter who wanted to prepare for media appearances. She hired media trainer Susan Harrow to help her overcome her “crisis of confidence.” Melinda’s Ivy League credentials and track record of extreme success didn’t mitigate those feelings.
“This ‘attack’ of imposter syndrome is common among even the most accomplished women,” says Harrow, who has media-trained thousands of people including Fortune 500 CEOs, celebrity chefs and rock stars.
In fact, Harrow believes 75% of women executives have imposter syndrome.
The term imposter syndrome was coined by American psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes, who published an article called "The Imposter Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention" in the 1978 journal Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. Here's how the abstract presented the matter: “Despite outstanding academic and professional accomplishments, women who experience the impostor phenomenon persist in believing that they are really not bright and have fooled anyone who thinks otherwise. Numerous achievements, which one might expect to provide ample objective evidence of superior intellectual functioning, do not appear to affect the impostor belief.”
Clance and coauthor Joe Langford acknowledged that both men and women are challenged by imposter syndrome in a 1993 article in the journal Psychotherapy: "The impostor phenomenon was originally thought to be particularly pervasive among females (Clance & Imes, 1978). Surveys of several populations, however, have found no differences between the sexes in the degree to which they experience impostor feelings."
Harrow is a media trainer, marketing strategist, and author of the best-selling book, Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul. In an interview she shared that the quickest way to gain confidence, certainty and comfort is through planning, preparation, practice—and role-playing worst-case scenarios. This includes imagining and rehearsing the most heinous situations where imposter syndrome rears its head.
She recommends three ways to overcome imposter syndrome:
Establish who you want to become. “Write down the qualities that you wish to have in every area of your personal and professional life and begin to notice the moments when you exhibit them,” says Harrow. “Make a mental note and write down your ‘marvelous me moments’ so you have a record of your progress. This builds internal fortitude.”
Micro-manage your mind. “In the moment when compare and despair pops up—like speaking on a panel with prestigious people who have an impressive presence, daunting accomplishments, best-selling books, or huge wealth—notice the thought and let it pass through like a gentle mist,” advises Harrow. “Instead of staying in the feeling of jealousy or less-than-ism, replace it with a generous thought about the person who has triggered you. Research confirms that this will instantly make you feel good, which is reflected in your energy that others perceive.”
Move toward. “Studies show that the mind rejects affirmations like ‘I’m strong, confident and bold!’ when you don’t feel that way inside,” says Harrow. “However, when you state what you want with sentences that begin with ‘I don’t know how” followed by ‘I’m becoming more confident each day’ or ‘how I will get more comfortable expressing my ideas on national TV,’ the mind opens to the possibility and accepts it as a bridge from where you are to where you want to be.”
For the past 33 years Susan has run Harrow Communications Inc., a worldwide media consultancy where she’s trained thousands worldwide to “turn their message into money” while becoming highly desirable, repeat guests who shine in the media spotlight. She has prepared clients to appear on Oprah, 60 Minutes, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Bloomberg, MSNBC, NPR, CNN, FOX, and in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Wired, Forbes, Inc., O, Parade, and Vanity Fair.
“Creating practices that you do daily become embodied with consistent iteration so the moments you get triggered happen less often and lessen in intensity,” says Harrow.
