ENTREPRENEURSHIP - FEATURE
BREAK THROUGH IMPOSTER SYNDROME AND STEP INTO YOUR POWER
Leadership coaches share real & practical advice on breaking through self doubts and Imposter syndrome
BY ANU BHATNAGAR
A study ‘How imposter syndrome and fears hinder women entrepreneurs’ business growth, published by Business Horizons, in Volume 62, Issue 5, 2019 sheds significant insights in to why this might be more prevalent for women entrepreneurs. The authors Kimberly Eddleston, Jamie Ladge and Keimei Sugiyama state “One reason why it’s easy for women entrepreneurs to suffer from the imposter syndrome is that “entrepreneurship” is typically depicted in masculine terms: “captain of industry,” “trailblazer,” “pioneer” and others.
While the attributes of a successful entrepreneur have historically focused on masculine-sounding traits (ambitious, aggressive, risk-taking and natural born leader), women have been socialized to be nurturing, selfless and collaborative. And despite women’s gains in business, society still sees the business world in masculine terms.”