Hello, librarians!  I’m so glad you’re here listening. In fact, it humbles me that to know that some of you are listening every week and that you value what I have to say.  

Thank you for that. It’s a honor to be of service to all of you. 

And this brings me to the topic of today’s episode – Librarians, Make Imposter Syndrome Work For You!  You can find complete show notes at masterfullibrarian.com/ep-15.

My guess is that all of you have heard of Imposter Syndrome.  But just in case you haven’t, Wikipedia defines it as “a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud". 

Can you relate to that at all?  I certainly can.  

In fact, I still struggle with this at times when I’m working in my coaching practice or when I’m creating this podcast.  My sinister mind gets in there and starts asking me who I think I am acting like I know anything about libraries or how to be a better librarian.

Well, the truth is, I am a professional librarian with over 30 years of experience in a wide variety of library settings and job roles, so I do have a lot to offer other members of the profession. 

I have to remind myself of that.

If you struggle with imposter syndrome, too, know that we’re not alone.  Even people known for great mastery of their work or craft can experience it.  

Tom Hanks, for instance, has openly acknowledged that he has Imposter Syndrome and he still fears that he’ll show up on a set one day and everyone will realize he has no clue what he’s doing.  Tom Hanks, of all people!  A consummate actor.

So if you have moments of doubting your abilities, that’s just fine. Apparently, it’s pretty common.

And it doesn’t have to be all bad.

Now I’m not minimizing the excruciating feelings of inadequacy and fear that Imposter Syndrome can cause.  Those feelings are real and they’re not comfortable.

But what if you took those feelings and leveraged them to perform better than ever? 

What if you made Imposter Syndrome work for you?

I’m talking about turning your feelings of fear into what Zen Buddhist’s call Beginner’s Mind.

For complete show notes, visit masterfullibrarian.com/ep-15.