Tips on dealing with impostor syndrome. This speech was given at DevOps Days Ohio 2016, and helps define Imposterism and different techniques and resources to overcome it.

1. You Don’t Belong Here!
DEALING WITH IMPOSTOR
SYNDROME

2. Who the heck am I?!
Jody Wolfborn
u Self-professed Imposterizer
u IT/DevOps practitioner for around 7 years
u Dog-person with a short attention span
u I love punctuation!

3. Rules of Engagement
u This stuff works for me
u Find what you connect with and build
your practice around that
u Take what you want or need and
respectfully leave the rest

4. What the heck is
Impostor Syndrome?!
u And how the heck do I spell it?!
u An intense, overwhelming anxiety that
one’s achievements are undeserved, and
that they’ll be discovered as an impostor!
I feel desperately out of place…
I have no idea what I’m supposed to understand…
Everyone knows something that I don’t…
If they find out what I don’t know…
I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop…

5. Famous “Impostors”

6. …believe they’re
imposters
don’t…
Why the heck do you care?!

7. DEFINITION!
“Impostor” v. “Adept”

8. "The trouble with the world
is that the stupid are cocksure
and the intelligent are full of doubt."
— Bertrand Russell

9. DEFINITION! “Fixed Mindset”

10. DEFINITION! “Growth Mindset”

11. Coworkers
Mentor
Close friends
Partner/Sig Other
Trusted Advisors
DEFINITION! “Inner Circle”

12. Choose Your Support Group
Carefully!

13. How the heck do I deal with
it?!
You’re not an impostor if you remain ADEPT
u Be Aware
u Be Deliberate
u Be Empathetic
u Be Powerful
u Be Tenacious

14. Be AWARE!
u Know what triggers your Impostor
Syndrome!
u Know what you’re saying!
u Know that you’re not alone!
u Know when to admit you don’t know!

15. Be DELIBERATE!
u Choose to change your attitude!
u Choose to change your language!
u Choose to learn and grow!
u Choose your support group carefully!

16. Be EMPATHETIC!
u Listen to your body!
u Listen to your instincts!
u Listen to others actively!
u Listen to the good things people say
about you!

17. Be POWERFUL!
u Exhude pride!
u Exhude confidence!
u Exhude strength!
u Exhude compassion!

18. Be TENACIOUS!
u Fight the urge to give up!
u Fight the fear concept of failure!
u Fight the tedium!
u Fight complacency!

19. It’s okay to educate
yourself!

20. It’s okay to change your
mind!
u Failure is an
opportunity to
GROW
u EFFORT and
ATTITUDE
determine my
success
GROWTH FIXED
u Failure is the
LIMIT of my
abilities
u ABILITY
determines my
success

21. Remember: You’re Not ALONE!!

22. Seriously, REMEMBER: You’re Not
ALONE!!

23. “And now that you don’t
have to be perfect…
….you can be good.”
-John Steinbeck