Guest blog: How I manage my impostor syndrome

I'm delighted to re-post this important guest blog by the inspirational Mandy Johnson: ** Over the last few months I have started talking openly about the fact that I have impostor syndrome. Doing so has allowed me to connect with people who live with it and learn how it manifests itself differently in others. I have also learned that those who do not experience it find it difficult to understand. They struggle to understand what it feels like to be confident in my skills, experience and ability yet also worry that I am an impostor in my career. It is difficult to articulate how or why a self-assured woman worries that she is going to get caught out as not having the “right” skills or experience for her job. LIVING WITH IT I recently hired a new member of staff who has seen the videos I have posted on impostor syndrome. She was surprised to hear that I “still have it”. It was strange to me that that she thought it might have gone away. It is something that I have battled with for years. I suspect that I will never completely overcome it. MY IMPOSTOR The best way that I have learnt to describe how my impostor syndrome manifests itself is as a “liar” who lurks inside me and I never know when she is going to appear. She is not a lack of confidence; she fights with the part of me that knows I have ample experience and am good at what I do. She tells me I look too young, I am too short and that my gender will prevent me from being taken seriously by those I am seek