Why Me? Impostor Syndrome (English and Spanish)

 

Why me? – The Impostor Syndrome

Last week, my friend, Engineer Iris Gastañaga received a phone call announcing that she had been selected to receive an award for her outstanding participation in the information technology industry.

The first thing that came to her mind was: "Why me?"

Iris is an Information Systems Engineer and studied for a master's degree in the same area, in addition, she has several other important credentials, such as PMP-Project Management Professional.

She is a full professor of the Master's Degree in Information Systems at the Universidad Tecnológica Nacional (UTN), Córdoba Regional Faculty, with a seniority of almost 30 years and prepared with a master's degree in university teaching.

In the professional field, Iris Gastañaga also has a 30-year career in the Software industry, and since 2008 she is Partner, Director and President of the company Kinetic Delivering Value, an organization dedicated to consulting and training professionals and companies on topics related to Quality and Processes, Project Management and Software Engineering, assisting important local and regional clients, leading a structure of more than 160 people.

Iris Gastañaga represents a role model for entrepreneurship and project management, founder and first President of the PMI Córdoba, Argentina Chapter and parto of board of directors in a couple of professional organizations. She is an international speaker, author of numerous articles, and has received multiple awards and distinctions.

And I could go on listing her important achievements, but I don't want to be tedious.

However, with all the above, Iris wonders "Why me?" when they announce her award.

And why not?

Why do women not value our achievements?

Why we feel as "imposters" when we are recognized?

Known as "imposter syndrome" is a psychological phenomenon by which successful people, especially women, are unable to assimilate their achievements and tend to minimize or underestimate their success, probably due to perfectionism.

The worst thing about this syndrome is that many women miss opportunities for development and professional growth because they don’t feel ready to the responsibility, capable, qualified, prepared. They feel like a fraud. They cannot recognize their achievements, even with great experience and preparation, they remain convinced that they are a fraud and that they do not deserve the success they achieved.

The question we should ask ourselves is:

What strategies can women develop to minimize the effects of this self-trap that limits them?

Alejandra Marcote in her very interesting book called “How to transform the impostor syndrome into your ally” (Marcote, 2022) recommends some actions to put into practice to defeat the negative effects of this disorder:

• The first thing we should do is to be aware we are not the only ones to go through this situation. Sharing it, just as Iris shared her feeling with us, helps to see it from another dimension.
• Review our achievements and competencies as if they were someone else's. What would you think if you see your professional career headed with the name of another person? Would you feel that person is not capable?
• And in the case of mistakes and failures, which we all have, validate the learning obtained!
• Visualize the future we want to reach, design the journey we want to travel, take actions to feel safe in the challenges we set for ourselves and rely on colleagues, mentors, and friends (women and men) who can help us flourish!

Finally, last Monday September 26^th, Iris Gastañaga received the recognition for her career in the software industry!