Member-only story
Perhaps We Shouldn’t Overcome Our Imposter Syndrome
Over the past few months, I’ve joined a few new communities. I got a job working in venture capital as an early-stage investor. Along with this role comes the community of my new team, as well as the extended venture capital community of fellow non-partner investors. I joined a new book club focused on legal issues I care about. I started doing more freelance editing. Much to my chagrin, I accepted an invitation to Bill Nye the Science Brides, a private Facebook group for people who were supposed to get married in 2020, but didn’t due to the pandemic. It makes me feel like shit for even thinking my October 2021 wedding will happen.
What these communities have in common is that they are filled with highly intelligent, creative people who welcome me with open arms… yet somehow, make me feel like I’m not enough or don’t belong. This phenomenon isn’t new. When I went to college at Middlebury or began working at Bridgewater, Quartz, and Chief, I felt the same way.
Soon after asking my colleagues or classmates to “tell me about their background,” familiar thoughts flew through my brain: Holy shit, this person is going to be president some day; why am I even in their presence; should I exaggerate something about my past so I can hang on their level; how did I even get here; why did they hire me; do they regret hiring me; when did they…
