We’ve all had times when we’re faking it. Someone asks a question at a meeting and rather than look stupid, we nod in agreement and try to look knowledgeable. And hope nobody asks us for an opinion or input. At the end of the meeting, we give a sigh of relief, phew, just managed to scrape through there. I must read up on that for the next meeting.
Or maybe you’re at a meeting and don’t understand some part. Then Freddy asks a question, (one you’ve been considering) and gets ridiculed or put down for it. (Really you should know this. This is obvious). You’re likely to be thinking, “Gosh, I’m glad I didn’t ask that question”. And you try to look knowledgeable. But inside you’re thinking, “I don’t know what’s going on here and everyone else does”. Except poor Freddy, who is now feeling very sheepish. Now that’s not nice for Freddy, although he will probably not know it’s going on. He thinks he’s being very sensible.
But one of the problems for us is that we will always be wondering if people are saying that about us too. Maybe we’re here thinking we know what we’re doing, what the expectations are and all along people are having little side chats about us, and like Freddy we are blind to what’s really happening.
Extract from The Imposter Syndrome https://www.ithinkwell.com.au/ebooks/the-impostor-syndrome-ebook