Impostor Syndrome - The Silent Enemy of your CS Team: Signs, Symptoms, and How To Tackle It

Impostor syndrome is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent internalised fear of being exposed as a fraud. Customer success professionals with impostor syndrome often feel that their achievements are a result of pure luck or external factors, rather than their own skills and efforts.

They constantly worry about being discovered as inexperienced or undeserving of their position. This mindset can have a significant impact on their confidence, job performance, and overall well-being.

Here, we explore the signs and symptoms of impostor syndrome in customer success, in order to help Leaders identify it in their teams and address it.

Understanding Impostor Syndrome in Customer Success

This phenomenon is common in many professional fields, but is especially common in Customer Success. Why?

Our expert Customer Success coach Paul Lucherini has his suspicions as to the reason why:

"Because Customer Success is so new, a lot of people suffer from impostor syndrome. They don't have the guidance back to previous experience."

So who does it affect?

Impostor Syndrome is significantly more common in women. A poll of over 4000 adults conducted by OnePoll Galaxy Chocolates as part of the brand’s video series “How to Thrive” in partnership with the organisation Young Women’s Trust, found that 'more than half of women experience impostor syndrome at some point'.

A concerning 72% of women said these negative feelings happened in the workplace. And it is considerably more likely to appear in high achievers - even Michelle Obama, has openly admitted that her impostor syndrome “never goes away”.

Although not as common in men, of those who expressed they had experienced impostor syndrome, a majority only felt it in the workplace — and 37% had talked openly about these feelings, something only a quarter of women had done.

Understanding impostor syndrome in the context of customer success is crucial to support and empower teams to overcome these feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt.

By recognising impostor syndrome in customer success teams, organisations can take proactive steps to address and mitigate its negative effects, and foster a healthier and more productive work environment.

How To Spot The Signs and Symptoms of Impostor Syndrome As A Leader

Impostor syndrome manifests itself in various signs and symptoms in customer success professionals.

Sometimes, these professionals aren't aware that how they feel has a name! These signs can help managers and colleagues identify individuals who may be experiencing impostor syndrome and offer the person the necessary support to overcome it.

Some common signs and symptoms include:

1. Feeling Inadequate Despite Achievements:

Customer success professionals with impostor syndrome often downplay their accomplishments and feel like they are not qualified or deserving of their success.

2. Fear of Being Exposed as a Fraud:

Individuals with impostor syndrome worry about being discovered as incompetent or lacking the necessary skills and knowledge for their role.

3. Overworking and Perfectionism:

Customer success professionals with impostor syndrome may overwork themselves in an attempt to prove their worth and avoid any mistakes. They may also strive for perfection in every task, setting unrealistic standards for themselves, which may lead to them procrastinating on tasks or taking much longer than expected to complete them.

4. Constantly Seeking Validation and Lacking Confidence:

Customer Success professionals with impostor syndrome are always looking for clues that they belong. They are often afraid to share how they really feel in fear of being 'found out' or being challenged by their leader or other members of the team, and may show a lack of confidence in their decision making abilities.

5. Doubting Their Performance:

Despite delivering positive outcomes and achieving targets, team members may consistently doubt their abilities, and put their success down to external factors or sheer luck.

Expert coaches are trained in recognising these signs and symptoms in customer success teams. Detection of the problem is the first step towards helping someone to overcome impostor syndrome and thrive in their customer success role.

The main problem is that Impostor syndrome often goes unrecognised by leaders and takes a huge toll on the individual suffering from it - making it almost impossible for them to thrive.

Even more worryingly, issues around impostor syndrome are often misdiagnosed as poor performance, which leave the individual feeling like the negative thoughts they've been having about themselves and their worth must be correct after all. It is almost a self fulfilling prophecy.

Addressing and Overcoming Impostor Syndrome as a Leader

So how should you tackle it as a leader?

Here are some effective ways to tackle imposter syndrome, suggested by our expert CS coaches:

1. Encourage Open Dialogue Within Your Team: 

Create a safe and non-judgmental space for team members to openly discuss their feelings of imposter syndrome with each other. This can help normalise the experience of imposter syndrome, where often people often feel like they are the only person feeling that way. This safe space reinforces the feeling of belonging to the team.

Our expert CS coach Paul Lucherini says:

"In a group setting where this safe, non judgemental space has been made, people walk out of it realising 'you know what, i'm facing the same challenges as everyone else, and collectively we'll come up with an answer', which in turn strengthens the team bond"

2. An Impartial Coach: 

Impostor syndrome feeds on solitude - it goes undetected because people struggle to admit to feeling it to their manager, due to them having a great deal of power over their careers and therefore their lives. A safe space as a manager can be difficult, if not almost impossible to create for this exact reason.

Each member of your team having a personally matched, impartial coach who they can trust (and who has no targets to hit other than for the coachee to succeed) is of paramount importance to overcome this mindset block.  Working with an expert coach can help individuals overcome this debilitating impostor syndrome  by creating awareness of why it shows up, and helping the individual to do the honest inner work to manage it, 

3. Provide Coaching, Support and Recognition:

Offer continuous support and recognition to team members, emphasising their achievements and contributions. Regular, consistent coaching to give feedback and positive reinforcement will help boost their confidence and keep the impostor syndrome at bay.

3. Promote a Growth Mindset Within Your Team:

Be a leader who encourages a growth mindset. Emphasise to your team that skills and abilities can be developed over time through effort and learning. This can really help individuals shift their focus, taking them from chronic perfectionism and feeling like they need to 'know it all now' to prove their competence, to embracing continuous self-improvement.

Implementing these strategies allow Leaders to create a positive and supportive working environment within their organisation that empowers their customer success team to overcome imposter syndrome and reach their full potential.

Conclusion

Impostor syndrome is much more common than you think. Your team may very well be suffering from it in silence. By recognising the signs and symptoms as a leader and implementing these strategies to address and remedy it, you can create a supportive and empowering work environment.

Supporting individuals in overcoming imposter syndrome not only benefits their well-being both inside and outside of work, but also contributes to the overall success and well-being of your whole customer success team.

The greatest leaders realise it is essential for organisations to prioritise mental health and provide the necessary resources to help individuals navigate and overcome impostor syndrome. By fostering a culture of openness, support, and growth, customer success teams can thrive and deliver exceptional results.

There is a key saying - "People will forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel".

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