Overview
It is well documented that men tend to apply for a job when they meet just 60% of the criteria, whereas women will only apply when they meet 100%. While it is perfectly natural for most people to feel a lack of confidence when starting in a new role, women have a higher tendency to not feel “good enough”, which can lead to undervaluing yourself and feeling like you don’t belong.
This is the highly problematic imposter syndrome.
At least two significant studies in the Australian marketplace have underpinned the prevalence of imposter syndrome in 2022:
An Asana study revealed that 45% of workers suffer from both burnout and imposter syndrome. A 2022 The Hub Spot report showed that 80% of men experience imposter syndrome, while a larger 90% of women suffer from this.
The latter report also shared that one of the most notable symptoms of the imposter syndrome is suffering from intrusive thoughts - a condition 48% of the report's respondents admitted to experiencing. Thoughts of this nature can make you feel like success is only based on luck, that you are "underqualified” for your role, or that you don't deserve the praise you receive.
When we feel we don’t belong or aren’t worthy enough, we tend to use toxic coping strategies like procrastination, avoidance, overworking, self-criticism, social comparison, self-sabotage and perfectionism. All of these lead to poor performance and are detrimental to our wellbeing. If we want to effectively manage our feelings of ‘imposterism’, we need to recognise how it shows up in our lives and how we typically deal with it.
Professor Maja draws on years’ worth of data collected with thousands of women around the world to inform her research and build her concepts and strategies. In this 3-hour seminar, you will learn how to develop a more realistic view of what competence is (and it’s not perfection), you’ll understand how organisations, industries and systems feed our insecurities, and you will develop compassion for yourself by learning that self-kindness, not self-judgment is the way forward.
This seminar is:
What can I expect from this seminar?
Who will attend?
Aspiring, emerging and existing female leaders from all sectors. Anyone who could do with a confidence boost or greater self awareness needs to attend this seminar.• Manager through to senior leadership
• Early career and emerging female leaders
• Learning and development practitioners
• Consultants and leadership coaches
• Women experiencing a transition in their lives, such as returning to work after a period of leave
Seminar overview
- The first half of this seminar will focus on understanding how the imposter syndrome shows up in your life, you will learn:
• Root causes of imposter syndrome
• What type of imposter are you? The 5 competency types
• Our problematic coping strategies we employ that lead us to play it safe
• Challenging our Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs)
• Learning how and why we need to take compliments & praise - The second half of this workshop will focus on the imposter syndrome at work you will learn:
• How our work environments can influence *and create* feelings of imposterism
• The role of gender & racial bias
• Problematic male communication styles that negatively impact women’s confidence
• How performance evaluations and feedback influence our self-doubt
• How and why self-compassion is the antidote to self-criticism and the imposter syndrome
Agenda Highlights
Key Speakers
The world’s foremost expert and researcher on gendered confidence inhibitors
I am a sociologist, author and TEDx speaker. I’m also a confidence-builder and apology-hater. I graduated with a Ph.D. in Sociology in 2014 (focusing on the sociology of women’s health), with no clear career in mind, until I attended an academic conference that completely changed the trajectory of my research, my career and my life. At that conference, I witnessed women at the pinnacle of their career deflecting praise (we call that feminine modesty) and over-apologising for mundane issues. I immediately became obsessed with apologies. I wrote my first book “Hey Ladies, Stop Apologizing… and other career mistakes women make” in 2015, the 2nd edition came out in 2017 along with the accompanying WORKBOOK. The audiobook came out in 2018 which is a best-of compilation for both the book, the workbook and my TV appearances.
My full-time job is on the public speaking circuit where I give talks and workshops to girls and women about all things related to confidence, communication and mindset. When I’m not giving talks, I’m either teaching Sociology of Health part-time at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario or I’m conducting my own research.
So enough about me, let’s focus on you. If you’re looking to build your confidence and improve the impact of your communication then I look forward to meeting you at the event!