During the Christmas break I watched the Hawkeye TV series on Disney+. Like with the other Marvel shows and films which came out last year, it's great fun and more of that Superhero content that I just love. It's very low stakes, which is a welcome change of pace from the Marvel films of last few years and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it.
A lot of news outlets wrote about how the series shows Hawkeye as a Superhero with Imposter Syndrome (for example: BBC news). I think the BBC's article describes Imposter Syndrome well by saying it is "...when someone continually doubts their own skills, expertise and achievements - usually despite evidence to suggest they're actually quite good at what they do." I can see why this was a big story as during the series he is constantly downplaying his actions in saving the world and rejecting the notion that he is a role model. For example, while eating a meal with his family in New York City, the waiter arrives telling Clint Barton (aka Hawkeye) that it's already covered by the restaurant. Clint reacts to this by trying to pay it, not wanting to flaunt his "superhero status".
I don't think it's just bow-wielding secret agents who suffer with Imposter Syndrome in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Jumping to The Falcon and The Winter Solider, Sam Wilson (aka The Falcon) gives up the Captain America shield as he feels he can't live up to the mantle. This is despite him saving the world alongside the avengers and being chosen to wield the shield from THE Captain America. He feels like an imposter. Let's swing across to Spider-Man (did you like the pun?). In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter Parker has had his suit confiscated by Tony Stark and loses in a fight with the villain. This fight results in him being trapped under the collapsed remains of a concrete ceiling, crying out for anyone to help. He doubts his own strength and abilities when he is not in the Spider-Man suit, believing he is not good enough without it.
I would love to keep writing about Marvel, but let's talk about real life for a bit...The other reason for writing this article was from my own personal experience. I have suffered with Imposter Syndrome a lot during my BA career. I struggle to accept positive feedback and doubt my own skills and strengths. I was interested as to how common this feeling is so I posed the question to my LinkedIn Network. Out of the 10 people who responded, all of them had reported suffering with Imposter Syndrome at some point during their career. This shows that it is relatively common but, admittedly, the sample size wasn't that large...
I started to research why that is and I came across an interesting article by Christina Lovelock (BA Times). She articulates that BA knowledge and experience could be seen as "common sense", rather than "professional skills, honed and improved over many years of practice". She does say that this could be due to the approach and techniques we use and how visible they are to our business Stakeholders. It could also be that, as BAs, we try to explain everything in a way that our Stakeholders understand.
I also found a great article by Joanne Fahy in the Q1 2022 issue of the BA Digest (link). Her article discusses that sinking feeling after a meeting where you believe it didn't go well - even if the outcome is exactly what was needed. She gives some great advice on how to deal with Imposter Syndrome such as collecting feedback from attendees and analysing the meeting output to determine why you could be feeling like an imposter. She also puts everything into perspective by telling us not to “let one meeting ruin the rest of your day, for the sake of an hour, grab a cup of tea, do your superman pose and play your theme tune”. I love this! If you see me posing up a storm from now on, you’ll know why!
I don't think I'll ever get over the feeling of Imposter Syndrome. However, what I need to remember is that the role wouldn't exist if it wasn't required. Like Hawkeye, The Falcon and Spidey, I need to start believing in myself and the value I can add to a team as a BA. Most importantly, I need to take Joanne’s advice and just be kind to myself!
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