A Fraud
"I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop," R.C. said.
"What shoe?" I asked.
"For them to fire me."
"Why would they do that?"
"I don't know. I can't give you a reason. I just feel they are going to find me out."
R.C. had been at his new job at one of the largest international consulting firms for all of one day--and that day had been spent in training.
He had been through six months of multiple rounds of interviews with everyone from HR to the managing partner. They had been so impressed that they were paying him significantly more than his management level normally allowed, which put him clearly on partner track himself.
But sitting in that hotel room, watching That '70s Show, after eight hours of information about the company's 401k plan, a buffet lunch, and a get-to-know-you dinner, he was overtaken by the feeling that they knew he was a fraud.
Was it because he was nearly 40 years old and felt that he had never made it in his career and now was too late? Was he still suffering from the effects of his last job and the boss who had beaten down his opinion of himself by belittling him at meetings and taking afternoon attendance as if his staff of vice presidents were kindergartners?
Or was it because all competent people feel like frauds? Everyone expects that other people can see what they see, and what competent and talented people see is what they could be doing better.
The challenge for people like this is remembering the things they have accomplished and valuing them because any small error is magnifed a thousand times in their minds.
Managers of talented people need to remind them of their successes to keep them motivated, and the people themselves, like R.C. need to remember that they are expecting everyone around them to give them this reinforcement--which is not always going to be coming from managers and co-workers who envy them.
After R.C.'s first day, he had not had a chance to impress anyone, and he felt a failure. There is nothing wrong about this. Tomorrow, he will try again to banish those fears of being fired by doing more. Any company is lucky to have him.
"What shoe?" I asked.
"For them to fire me."
"Why would they do that?"
"I don't know. I can't give you a reason. I just feel they are going to find me out."
R.C. had been at his new job at one of the largest international consulting firms for all of one day--and that day had been spent in training.
He had been through six months of multiple rounds of interviews with everyone from HR to the managing partner. They had been so impressed that they were paying him significantly more than his management level normally allowed, which put him clearly on partner track himself.
But sitting in that hotel room, watching That '70s Show, after eight hours of information about the company's 401k plan, a buffet lunch, and a get-to-know-you dinner, he was overtaken by the feeling that they knew he was a fraud.
Was it because he was nearly 40 years old and felt that he had never made it in his career and now was too late? Was he still suffering from the effects of his last job and the boss who had beaten down his opinion of himself by belittling him at meetings and taking afternoon attendance as if his staff of vice presidents were kindergartners?
Or was it because all competent people feel like frauds? Everyone expects that other people can see what they see, and what competent and talented people see is what they could be doing better.
The challenge for people like this is remembering the things they have accomplished and valuing them because any small error is magnifed a thousand times in their minds.
Managers of talented people need to remind them of their successes to keep them motivated, and the people themselves, like R.C. need to remember that they are expecting everyone around them to give them this reinforcement--which is not always going to be coming from managers and co-workers who envy them.
After R.C.'s first day, he had not had a chance to impress anyone, and he felt a failure. There is nothing wrong about this. Tomorrow, he will try again to banish those fears of being fired by doing more. Any company is lucky to have him.
posted by The Business Therapist at
7:34 AM
1 Comments:
If you don't think you're a fraud, you probably are one.
By
ds, at 11:21 AM
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