“I CANNOT FAIL” … were the words I said to the woman who was about to take me on a one-year journey to qualify to become a professional trainer (CIPD). Why did I say that? Was it because I wanted to be the best?
Actually no. The reason I said it was because I was genuinely scared of failure. I was in my early forties, had a good salary, pension, nice company car and a seat on the top table of a billion-pound PLC. I had arrived. What I could not do is come back to the table one year later and say, “Sorry, I failed the course.” How would I look? How would I feel? So, the night before I started the training course, I phoned the tutor, Pauline, in a panic, just to be reassured that I would not be embarrassed by failure.
No matter how high we get in our careers we can still feel vulnerable and insecure. Asking for help or admitting our weaknesses gets harder the higher up we go.
Like many individuals in senior management, I came from humble beginnings with a run-of-the-mill education. My various qualifications and learning came from on-the-job vocational education and some very inspirational training sessions.
At BlueGreen we work with all types of people across the education spectrum. We understand how difficult or intimidating it is for some people to come to training sessions (or coaching interventions). The fear of being caught out, for not knowing much, or revealed as a fraud in our jobs, is a reality for people of all levels. This phenomenon is called ‘Imposter Syndrome.’ The people who are expected to know the most, suffer the most!
Some of our highest level clients’ suffer the most both with their confidence and ability. So, if you identify with the ‘Imposter Syndrome’ please take heart! You are not alone. In fact, most of the people you are dealing with are probably feeling the same.
For more information about training and coaching, please visit our website www.bluegreenbd.co.uk.