#59: Boss The Imposter

It’s the 2016 Icelandic Presidential election and two very different candidates line up against one another. David Oddsson had helped walk Iceland into catastrophe during the GFC by privatising the main banks and allowing their balance sheets to balloon to mammoth proportions. 

All three major Icelandic banks defaulted, and the currency was trashed. Arrogant and brash, Oddsson had sacked economists and blamed anyone but himself, despite ‘Time’ magazine identifying him as one of the twenty-five people responsible for the financial crisis worldwide. 

Even after all this, he saw himself as the ideal candidate for president. Overconfidence had left him blind to his faults.

Halla Tomasdottir on the other hand had helped found a university and had brought her investment firm through the GFC with exceptional leadership. Well regarded by many, a Facebook petition for Halla to run for president was gathering steam. 

Her first thought was, ‘Who am I to be president?’ She looked to cajole others to run, but eventually, as the calls got louder, she grudgingly decided ‘Who am I not to serve?’ and put her name forward.

Halla felt completely out of her depth – a true imposter and with just 6 weeks to go she was a longshot with only 1 percent support. Halla decided that with little to lose and little campaign money, she needed to think outside of the box.

She stayed up late personally answering social media questions, ran ‘ask me anything’ Facebook lives and even used Snapchat to connect with younger voters. 

Halla also refused to denigrate her follow politicians and instead ran a positive campaign. Support steadily increased and then with four weeks to go a successful tv election debate really kickstarted momentum.

Come election night her positive and warm campaign had clearly connected with people, and Halla finished with an incredible 28 percent of the vote to finish in second place. Overconfident Oddsson who had a large campaign budget, front page adverts and powerful contacts managed just half of that! 

Halla’s imposter syndrome almost stopped her from taking an awesome opportunity and with a few weeks more she would likely have become president. From Adam Grant’s book ‘Think Again’.

WISDOM 💎

“I still believe that at any time the no-talent police will come and arrest me.”

Mike Myers

Tip 1 - A SMART PLAY ✅

Adam Grant suggests instead of overconfidence or imposter syndrome we should aim for a middle ground of 'confident humility'. Confident in our ability to learn and figure things out, whilst conscious we will need new skills and tools along the way.

Remember that everyone is learning on the job! No-one is perfect.

Tip 2 - AVOID 🚩

Thinking you’re the only one with self-doubts. Brene Brown was invited to a meeting of amazing people, writers, artists, scientists, discoverers. She felt that at any moment, they would find her out and ask her to leave. 

She spoke to a very nice, elderly chap at the back of the room, who remarked ‘I just look at all these people, and I think, what the heck am I doing here? They’ve made amazing things. I just went where I was sent.’

And Brene said, ‘Yes. But you were the first man on the moon. I think that counts for something.’

If Neil Armstrong can doubt himself, then anyone can! Source

Tip 3 - ACTION 💪

In a journal or somewhere safe, write down 3 times you felt unconfident or a fraud before a situation and you went ahead and smashed it. Our feelings and beliefs are not often reality. 

Finding evidence to show times you’ve done well despite negative feelings, can help us put things in perspective. Add new examples and revisit your list whenever you’re feeling low on confidence.