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Why do you need to change the way you think about career progression goals?

1. Many of You HAVE no career progression goals at all.  

• You're floating along 
• You have no intention or direction 
• Maybe it hasn't occurred to you that you should. 

1. A lot of you have this idea that career progression is only about getting a promotion. 
   
   
2. Some of you do have a career progression goal, but it's not the right one. 
   
   
3. You have a career progression goal, it's the right one, but the way you're chasing after that goal is going to make it unsustainable when you get there.

So you're either 

• underestimating the IMPORTANCE of career progression and/or
• you're taking such a narrow a view of it, (I.e. that career progression = promotion) that you are missing out on the VALUE of other forms of career progression. 

This means you are denying yourself the opportunity to create the results of:

• Being in a better place in your career today than you were yesterday
• Or at the end of this year than you were last year 
• And to have as your future goal: the ambition of being in a better place in your career at the end of 2023 than you are the beginning.

In this last episode of the Caroline Flanagan Podcast, we cover: 

1. Why you should ALWAYS have a career progression goal.
2. Why it's really important to make sure that your goal is the RIGHT goal. 
3. How to choose the right goal by focusing on the 4 Pillars of Career Progression, the concept we teach in Imposter Syndrome Coaching.
4. What the 4 Pillars of Career Progression are and how to use them.

In my Imposter Syndrome Coaching programme, you do a Progression Audit to work out which of the 4 pillars needs the most immediate attention, and we spend 6 months progressing that pillar first.  When you do the work to progress one pillar,  this has a knock on effect of progressing the other pillars too.

You can get started RIGHT NOW with identifying your progression goal for the next 6 months. I'm giving you FREE ACCESS to the Progression Audit Form (the exact same one we use when you join in Imposter Syndrome Coaching) to everyone who joins my Waitlist. .   

To access your audit now, join the Waitlist. Add your details there, and a link to the Progression Audit will be sent straight to your inbox.  

And make a note! Enrolment for Imposter Syndrome Coaching opens on 6th December. So head over to the waitlist and get your Progression Audit. This is your opportunity to be ready for when doors open on enrolment. 

This is the last episode of The Caroline Flanagan podcast and we're excited to have recently introduced a brand new podcast, Legal Imposters, which is super tailored especially for lawyers with Imposter Syndrome. You can listen to it here, and head on over to LinkedIn to subscribe to the Imposter Syndrome in Law newsletter. 

So you know you have Imposter Syndrome. You understand how it's holding you back in your career and you're clear about how you want to progress. But how will you know when you get there and who do you need to become along the way?

When coaching my clients on how to achieve their progression goals, I don't just set off in the vague hope of helping them get what they want. We get really clear on how you'll know when you get there and we always measure your progress. Because more important than achieving your goal is who you become along the way.

24 Sept 2022 - Pre-enrolment to Imposter Syndrome Coaching opens to WAITLIST
Join here:

26 Sept 2022 - FREE MASTERCLASS: How to Progress your Legal Career. Register here:

Enrolment to Imposter Syndrome Coaching for Lawyers is open Apply here:

Monday 3 Oct 2022 Midnight - Enrolment closes. Application deadline.

It's easy to talk about wishing you could progress your career and the things that are holding you back, but have you thought about what you want that progress to look like? Feel like? And who you will be on the other side of that progress?

In this episode, I invite you to cast aside your thoughts about why you're not progressing, and take yourself to a place where you know what progression means to you and you start to believe that it's possible.

Referenced in this episode:
24 Sept 2022
- Pre-enrolment to Imposter Syndrome Coaching opens to WAITLIST
Join here:

26 Sept 2022
- FREE MASTERCLASS: How to Progress your Legal Career. Register here:

Enrolment to Imposter Syndrome Coaching for Lawyers is open
Apply here:

Monday 3 Oct 2022 Midnight UK
- Enrolment closes. Application deadline.

So you think you have Imposter Syndrome. But why does it matter? Why should you care? Because it's holding you back, that's why. In this episode, I talk about the negative impact Imposter Syndrome can have on a career and how you know it is negatively impacting yours.

Referenced in this episode:
24 Sept 2022
- Pre-enrolment to Imposter Syndrome Coaching opens to WAITLIST
Join here:

26 Sept 2022
- FREE MASTERCLASS: How to Progress your Legal Career. Register here:

Enrolment to Imposter Syndrome Coaching for Lawyers is open
Apply here:

Monday 3 Oct 2022 Midnight UK
- Enrolment closes. Application deadline.

Feeling like a fraud and that your success is down to luck are sure signs of Imposter Syndrome, but they are not the only ones. There are a whole bunch of Secret Signs nobody talks about, and you need to know what they are. In this episode I share exactly what they are and how you know they apply to you, and answer any questions you may have.

Referenced in this episode:
24 Sept 2022
- Pre-enrolment to Imposter Syndrome Coaching opens to

WAITLIST
Join here:

26 Sept 2022
- FREE MASTERCLASS: How to Progress your Legal Career. Register here:

Enrolment to Imposter Syndrome Coaching for Lawyers is open
Apply here:

Monday 3 Oct 2022 6PM UK
- Enrolment closes. Application deadline.

Depending on which research you believe, 60-90% of us have experienced Imposter Syndrome at some time in our lives. But what exactly is Imposter Syndrome? And how do you know you have it? Tune in to find out.

Referenced in this episode:
24 Sept 2022
- Pre-enrolment to Imposter Syndrome Coaching opens to WAITLIST
Join here:


26 Sept 2022
- FREE MASTERCLASS: How to Progress your Legal Career. Register here:

Enrolment to Imposter Syndrome Coaching for Lawyers is open
Apply here:

Monday 3 Oct 2022 6PM UK
- Enrolment closes. Application deadline.

Being visible is a core essential for career progression.

• It's how people get to know who you are 
• It's how they get to experience your value 
• It's how they learn to trust you enough to: 
      - give you opportunities
      - recognise you
      - support you
      - promote you.

But when you have Imposter Syndrome, your fear of being exposed means that visibility is the last thing you want. You'll go to great lengths to avoid it, by:

• Turning down opportunities to showcase your value
• Not going for a promotion
• Avoiding networking events
• Avoiding public speaking
• Being intimidated by social media.

Perhaps you only do one or a couple of the above. But the problem is that any of these behaviours can hold you back and stop you from realising your true potential.

In this episode, I describe my own personal problem with Imposter Syndrome and visibility; raising my profile on social media. 

I explain how, like me, you need to identify WHAT you should do to raise your visibility, and, more importantly, HOW you should do it. I share with you the results of an exercise I teach in Imposter Syndrome coaching which helps you to embrace negative emotion in order to do the things that will make you visible.

You don't have to make this journey alone. I teach you the process for becoming more visible in Imposter Syndrome Coaching for Lawyers, and I coach you every step of the way. You also get the support of other members of the group who are on the same journey. With this level of support, your success is inevitable. Enrolment opens 12th September for 7 days only and places are limited. As a lawyer with Imposter Syndrome, you have to check out this programme. Get your name on the waitlist now, so you are the first to hear.  I will be prioritising applications from people who are already on the Waitlist when enrolment opens. 

https://carolineflanagan.com/imposter-syndrome-coaching/join-waitlist/ 

There's a fine line between Overworking and working hard to produce results. So how do you tell the difference? 

The answer is the Goldilocks Gauge.

Overworking is all the work you do that is driven by fear. It takes up valuable time but adds little or no value. Such as:

• Labouring over emails.
• Excessively checking your work.
• Prolonging tasks so you never finish your work, you only ever run out of time.

Overworking makes you inefficient and puts your career at risk. If you want to progress your career, you need to learn how to stop.

In this episode, I introduce you to 'The Goldilocks Gauge' - the unique tool you learn in Imposter Syndrome Coaching to help you understand what is the 'just right' amount of time to spend on your work. This is the efficiency sweet spot.

You'll learn how to evaluate how long things will take, and a formula to work out how long tasks SHOULD be taking you so you can stop Overworking and focus only on the work that will produce the best results.

The better you get at stopping overworking, the more efficient you'll be, the better balance you'll have, and the more your career will progress.

To get started on stopping Overworking with The Goldilocks Gauge, join the next class of Imposter Syndrome Coaching. Enrolment for the next class is on September 12th 2022. Be the first to know by Signing up to the waitlist here.

Stop Overthinking. Get out of your own head. When you have Imposter Syndrome, one of your biggest struggles is with Overthinking. If your Imposter Syndrome is triggered, the fear and anxiety send you spiralling into thought drama. By worrying, panicking and mentally preparing for the worst, your brain is trying to protect you from potential danger. 

 But when the perceived danger is a work challenge, all this Overthinking isn't protective, it's detrimental. 

 Being 'in your own head' means: 

•    You're not fully present in your environment. 

•    You experience the world through the filter of your negative thoughts. 

So you are:  

• Less  efficient (things take you longer). 
• Less effective (you're less focused).   
• More hesitant, quieter, withdrawn (where you are making negative assumptions).  

All of which stops you from progressing in your career. 

In this podcast episode, I explain the importance of 'getting out of your own head'. 

We cover: 

• Why you need to be able to shift your attention away from your thoughts and direct it towards what is actually happening right in front of you.  
• When you need to be able to do it. 
• How to do it. 
• The Blink-of-an-eye Attention Redirection strategy I teach in Imposter Syndrome Coaching. 
• Obstacles to expect and how to overcome them. 

When you've learned how to stop Overthinking you are more alert and focused and 100x more effective. You notice more. You think more clearly, solve problems more quickly. You're free to be creative, more responsive. And you'll be so much more in control. 

Join Imposter Syndrome Coaching to learn the tool that will help you get out of your own head. Enrolment for the next class opens on 12th September 2022. Click here to find out more and join the waitlist.  

Coaching seems to be ubiquitous these days, but do you really understand what good coaching is, what sort of coaching to choose, how it works, or how it can help you progress your career?

It's time to go back to basics.

In this podcast episode, I get to the bottom of the coaching conundrum, and give you all the information you need to make an informed decision about Imposter Syndrome Coaching. 

I cover:

• What coaching is: an explanation of the listening and questioning technique that helps you get from where you are now to where you want to be. 
• What coaching is not.
• Who coaching is for.
• How coaching works.
• The best conditions for coaching.
• The value of coaching: how is it worth the money?
• What to look for in a coach.

I also explain how Imposter Syndrome Coaching ticks all these boxes in a unique coaching programme  tailored just for lawyers with Imposter Syndrome. 

Coaching will take you further than you can go by yourself. If you'd like to give it a try, the next class of Imposter Syndrome Coaching is coming soon. Click here to join the waitlist and find out more. 

Do you ever take time out to evaluate your own performance?

Many people struggle to honestly assess how they're doing.

• It takes effort; when you have Imposter Syndrome, looking for the things you have done wrong or could improve is a massive trigger.
• It feels time consuming.
• You don't have a process; self-evaluation is not a skill that is usually taught. 

But self-evaluation is one of the most important lessons you learn in Imposter Syndrome Coaching. It's the process that ensures that every time you go through a growth cycle , you are progressing through the cycle (I.e. improving), instead of just going round in circles! Together with asking for feedback, it's the part of the process which is going to most accelerate your progress towards your goal. 

In this episode, I cover:

• What to evaluate 
• How to evaluate

I explain how in Imposter Syndrome Coaching, we take a unique approach: Imposter Syndrome is not a problem you need to fix, it's just the puzzle you need to solve.

And that is the puzzle of who you are.

When you know who you are, and you take action from "who you are" instead of who you're not: you get access to all the resources you need to fulfil your potential. 

• You don't succeed by doing. you succeed by being.
• You don't succeed because of a list of achievements, or what you've done, you succeed because of who you've become. 

So in Imposter Syndrome Coaching, I teach you to evaluate your performance differently. It's not about what you did, it's all about who you were.

In this episode, I walk you through the step-by-step process to evaluate who you were when you performed each action, and explain how you can act on the results of your self evaluation to progress.

Who you are is your most valuable asset.  Self evaluation is about holding yourself accountable to showing up as who you are. If you'd like to get started, book a free consultation with me. 

This week we're launching a brand new podcast exclusively for lawyers. Welcome to Legal Imposters! The podcast will have all the helpful Imposter Syndrome advice and information you have been used to if you have been following the Caroline Flanagan podcast over the last couple of years, but will be tailored to be even more specific to lawyers, going deeper and serving you better. 

This introductory episode is to welcome fellow legal imposters into the fold, and to explain to you how the key to tackling your Imposter Syndrome lies in turning it into your strength and using it to your advantage in your career.

We bust the three Imposter Syndrome myths: 

• That it's 'just you' and that everyone else is confident and capable. 
• That Imposter Syndrome is a problem that you need to fix.
• That Imposter Syndrome is a sign of weakness.  

And we explain how rather than 'fixing' your Imposter Syndrome, you need to change:

• The way you think about your Imposter Syndrome.
• The way you think about YOURSELF as a person with Imposter Syndrome.
• The way you think about what it means to succeed in the legal industry.

We'll explore all of this in detail over the coming episodes. But if you're a lawyer, you want more, your negative thoughts about belonging and deserving are holding you back, you're ready to stop doing that, and you're now ready to see what you're capable of, you're in the right place!  

Welcome to Legal Imposters. We're so excited you're here. 

SUBSCRIBE and tell ALL your fellow lawyers – everyone needs to know how to feel good about their Imposter Syndrome!

In Imposter Syndrome Coaching we follow a simple practical process for progressing your career when you have Imposter Syndrome. Enrolment for the next programme opens soon. Join the waitlist so that you'll be the first to know! 

Are you curious about Imposter Syndrome Coaching? Do you wonder how it works? Or fear it might not work for you?

Coaching forms the backbone of ISC (my coaching programme for lawyers with Imposter Syndrome.)

In these special 'client breakthrough' podcast episodes, I'm sharing examples of client progression due to their coaching experiences. If you've never had coaching before, this is a brilliant way to gain some insight into the process. You'll get to zoom in on real client scenarios and get a glimpse of the types of transformations you can achieve through my Imposter Syndrome Coaching programme.

In this client breakthrough session we're covering: all or nothing thinking.

The scenario:

A corporate lawyer, returning from maternity leave, is anxiously looking for recognition and promotion, in the knowledge that one of the partners has been unsupportive of her ambitions. 

In this episode, I walk you through the coaching process for this scenario: 

• Identifying the client's progression goals (recognition and promotion).
• Exploring the obstacles to her achieving those goals (her feelings of anxiety and stress about the partner's hostility which triggers her Imposter Syndrome).
• Examining the reasons behind those feelings (memories of past feedback causing negative 'all or nothing' thinking).
• Helping her recognise and find a solution to rebalance her thinking and move forward.

This Imposter Syndrome Coaching process:

• Shows you how your Imposter Brain works – driven by fear of exposure, it wants to avoid this at all costs.
• Shows you how your Human Brain works – it likes to generalise (because it's more efficient), causing you to stay stuck in your story and miss vital information you can use to move forward.
• Reveals your blindspots – all the information you're ignoring which tells a better, more useful story.
• Gives you back your power by providing you with an opportunity to take action towards your goal.

If you're a lawyer who is ready to tackle your own all or nothing thinking and to find out how Imposter Syndrome Coaching can help you too, book your free consultation with me by clicking here.

Your Imposter Syndrome is the obstacle standing between you and the results you want in your career, but did you know that it is also the solution?

It sounds counterintuitive, but at its core, this is about choice; the choices you have when 

your Imposter Syndrome is triggered:

1. The choices around what you make it mean, and
2. The choices over what to do next.

This is the philosophy I teach that supports step 4 of Imposter Syndrome Coaching: follow your Imposter Syndrome to your goal. Imposter Syndrome will get in your way, but don't shy away from it; lean into it. Turn your weakness into a strength. Life is an arena and this is your playbook. 

This episode covers:

• What 'Imposter Syndrome is the Way' really means, including workplace examples.
• Why you need to adopt this philosophy.
• How to apply it in the workplace.
• What to expect along the way.

Episode takeaways:

When you have Imposter Syndrome, you're always going to trigger those feelings of anxiety and self-doubt on the path towards your goal.

The 'Imposter Syndrome is the Way' philosophy is your reminder that: 

• Your Imposter Syndrome is the signpost that points you straight in the direction of the result you want to create. 
• Your Imposter Syndrome being triggered is a sign you're on the right path; and 
• Your Imposter Syndrome being triggered reveals the path of your growth and what will prepare you for the next level.

Listen to this podcast episode and you'll walk away with a new lens through which to see and experience the world as a lawyer with Imposter Syndrome, in a way which is going to make it so much easier:

• To do the things you want to do
• To make decisions
• To create results
• To overcome adversity, and
• To build better relationships

If you're a lawyer with Imposter Syndrome and you're ready to get serious about your career, book a free consultation with me to discuss how this could work for you. 

In this podcast:

• What Growth Cycles are and why they're important.
• Why, as a lawyer with Imposter Syndrome, you need to understand how they work.
• How to use Growth Cycles to create the career results you want.

In Imposter Syndrome Coaching, I guide you through a 4-step process to help you solve your Imposter Syndrome and progress your career. This is: 

•  Normalise your Imposter Syndrome
•  Remember who you are
•  Trust you are enough
•  Follow Imposter Syndrome to your goal 

Having a clear process is one thing. But staying on track and seeing that process through to the end  is another. You're likely to fall off track. You're bound to experience setbacks. There are going to be failures along the way.

I created the concept of the Growth Cycle to help you prepare for when this happens and so you know exactly what you need to do to get back on track. 

A Growth Cycle is a series of sequential stages you need to go through in order to progress. There are 3 stages in a Growth Cycle: 

• Fail
• Fail again
• Fail better.  

You need to pass through all three stages in order to learn and grow, perhaps multiple times. Doing this will help you:

• Measure your progress, so you stay motivated and keep failure in perspective
• Understand the key role of failure in progress, and 
• Build the failure tolerance that will help you succeed at every stage of your career.

In Imposter Syndrome Coaching, Growth Cycles are part of step 4 of the coaching process: follow your Imposter Syndrome to your goal. You keep failing until you get there. And you will get there! If you're a lawyer with Imposter Syndrome and you're ready to get out of your own way, book your free consultation with me by clicking here

Do you ever ask for feedback on your work, or do you wait for it to be offered or for your annual review? 

When you have Imposter Syndrome, asking someone 'how did I do?' feels risky. When you feel like a fraud, that your success is down to luck and that you might be exposed, asking for feedback is one of the last things you want to do. Why would you risk drawing attention to yourself where someone might spot your mistakes? Ask for feedback and you risk confirming your worst fears. 

But feedback is essential for progress.

When you do a piece of work, you need to know 3 things: 

• What went well  
• What didn't, and  
• What to do differently next time.

Without this knowledge, you won't be able to make adjustments to your work, adapt to new situations, build resilience, or improve your performance - all of which you need to do to progress your career. 

In this episode, I explain: 

• How your Imposter Syndrome stops you from asking for feedback 
• Why NOT asking for feedback is a problem for progressing your career
• Why failure and feedback are fundamental parts of the growth cycle
• 8 recommendations for how to ask for feedback 
• How to solve your Imposter Syndrome so that you can ask for feedback more easily.

The podcast episode this time is a recording of last week's free Webinar, How to Progress Your Law Career (without fixing your Imposter Syndrome).

You've tried all the tips and tricks. Power-posing. Faking it 'til you make it. Telling yourself you deserve to be here and that your success isn't down to luck.  

But none of them have worked. Not in a transformative way. They give you a boost, but the results never last. You always end up back here:

• Overworking. 
• Overthinking. 
• Playing small. 
• Sabotaging your success. 

You're looking for a solution that will solve your Imposter Syndrome for good, so you can progress your career and get more of the recognition you deserve. 

That solution is available to you now. 

To stop Imposter Syndrome holding you back in your career, you must change the way you're thinking about it. Imposter Syndrome isn't the problem you think it is. It's just the puzzle of who you are.  You don't need to fix it to progress your career. You just need to solve it. 

In this episode, I explain how. 

Here's what you'll learn:  

1. Why your attempts to get rid of Imposter Syndrome aren't working for you, and what you should do instead.  
2. The 4 workplace behaviours which are holding you back and threatening to derail your career.
3. How to normalise your Imposter Syndrome using Imposter Syndrome Mapping and how to create your career progression road map. 
4. How to process negative emotions like fear, doubt and anxiety without them holding you hostage. 
5. What the Imposter Speech is, and how to use it as a process for knowing who you are and a tool for trusting you are enough, so you can follow your Imposter Syndrome all the way to achieving your goal. 

This is the strategy I teach in Imposter Speech Coaching – a career progression coaching programme for lawyers with Imposter Syndrome. When you implement this strategy, you'll have everything you need not only to progress your career to the next level, but to progress your career at every level. This means:

• You'll be more productive and efficient, so you'll perform at a higher level. 
• You'll have the courage to be more visible, so people know you and see your value. 
• You'll feel calmer and more in control, instead of constantly feeling anxious and overwhelmed.
• You'll showcase your value, without being afraid of being "that person".
• You'll set better boundaries, so you avoid the risk of burning out. 
• You'll seize more opportunities. 
• You'll learn from negative feedback instead of making it about you. 

There's still time to apply for the next class of Imposter Syndrome Coaching starting in July 2022, but you need to hurry. Enrolment ends tomorrow – Friday 17th June, 2022 – at midnight (BST). CLICK HERE to go straight to the application form.

Welcome to the Progression Series: 4 podcasts in which I challenge the myth that career progression is only about promotions and pay rises. I introduce you to the 4 pillars of career progression that provide the best motivation for solving your Imposter Syndrome and are the key to making your experience as a lawyer so much easier and more fulfilling.

In this episode:

The 4 Pillars of Career Progression

Progressing your career is about more than a new position, a new job title and the accompanying pay rise. These have their value. But unless they are accompanied by progression in other areas, their impact on your day-to-day experience and performance as a lawyer will be limited. You just find yourself facing the same challenges and problems you did before, only now at a level where the stakes are higher and you have less support.

How is this progress?

Real career progression goes deeper and it lasts SO much longer. It's not just about your career. It's about progressing who you are in a way that improves your day-to-day experience of life as a lawyer.

Enter the 4 Pillars of Career Progression.

The 4 pillars of Career Progression are the 4 principal areas of lawyer life that determine how happy and successful you are in your work. They are:

• Recognition
• Confidence
• Balance
• Ease

These pillars are an essential feature of career progression. It only counts as progress if one or more of these areas is in a more advanced state than it was previously. Specifically, if you achieve one or more of the following:

• More recognition
• More confidence
• Better balance
• More ease

You don't have to advance all 4 pillars for it to count as career progression. But the more pillars you progress, the more impactful and sustainable your career progression is. In the last 3 episodes we looked at more recognition, better balance and more confidence. The pillar we are focusing on this week is more ease.

More Ease

No-one signs up to be a lawyer because they think it's going to be easy. Getting into, practising, and progressing in the industry seems the very definition of hard work: the long hours, the extreme pressure, the intellectual challenges, the high expectations and the huge responsibility. 

There's nothing easy about working in an industry that requires you to work this hard.

BUT having Imposter Syndrome, means the WAY you do that 'Hard Work' is harder than it needs to be.

When a high-pressure situation occurs, your Imposter Syndrome is triggered. Your resulting fear and anxiety make you:

• Overthink
• Overwork
• Self-sabotage, and 
• Play small.

(These are the '4 Horsemen', the work place behaviours you default to when your Imposter Syndrome is triggered.)

Behaving in these ways makes an already hard situation so much harder because you are literally getting in your own way. When you overwork, overthink, play small and sabotage yourself, how can you expect to progress?

In this episode, I explain:

• Why more ease is one of the 4 pillars of career progression
• The consequences for your career progression when you get in your own way
• How to solve your Imposter Syndrome to overcome the  behaviours that make your work harder
• How to measure your progress towards working with more ease
• The importance of who you become along the way. 

Like the idea of working with more ease? In Imposter Syndrome Coaching you pick one of the 4 pillars of career progression as your main goal and we work through the 4-step process for solving your Imposter Syndrome to help you achieve it. Enrolment for the next class is open NOW. Join today, by clicking here. 

Welcome to the Progression Series: 4 podcasts in which I challenge the myth that career progression is only about promotions and pay rises. I introduce you to the 4 pillars of career progression that provide the best motivation for solving your Imposter Syndrome and are the key to making your experience as a lawyer so much easier and more fulfilling.

In this episode:

The 4 Pillars of Career Progression

Progressing your career is about more than a new position, a new job title and the accompanying pay rise. These have their value. But unless they are accompanied by progression in other areas, their impact on your day-to-day experience and performance as a lawyer will be limited. You just find yourself facing the same challenges and problems you did before, only now at a level where the stakes are higher and you have less support.

How is this progress?

Real career progression goes deeper and it lasts SO much longer. It's not just about your career. It's about progressing who you are in a way that improves your day to day experience of life as a lawyer.

Enter the 4 Pillars of Career Progression.

The 4 pillars of Career Progression are the 4 principal areas of lawyer life that determine how happy and successful you are in your work. They are:

• Recognition
• Confidence
• Balance
• Fun

These pillars are an essential feature of career progression. It only counts as progress if one or more of these areas is in a more advanced state than it was previously. Specifically, if you achieve one or more of the following:

• More recognition
• More confidence
• Better balance
• More fun

You don't have to advance all 4 pillars in order for it to count as career progression. But the more pillars you progress, the more impactful and sustainable your career progression is. In the last 2 episodes we looked at more recognition and better balance. The pillar we are focusing on this week is more confidence.

More Confidence.

When you think progressing your career is only about getting a promotion and a better job title, it's natural to think about all the things you need to do to get promoted (growing your network, being more visible, showcasing your value, seizing opportunities etc.) and think your lack of confidence is a barrier to achieving it. 

So instead of getting started on progressing your career, either you wait and hope for the magical day when you'll suddenly feel more confident, or, you put off the idea of progressing your career altogether, believing that you will never be confident enough.

Here's what we cover:

• Confidence as one of the 4 pillars of career progression
• What can happen to your career if you wait to feel more confident
• The dangers of relying on external validation to build confidence
• How confidence is built and how to measure your progress towards it
• The importance of who you become along the way

In Imposter Syndrome Coaching you pick one of the 4 pillars of career progression as your main goal and we work through the 4-step process for solving your Imposter Syndrome to help you achieve it. Enrolment for the next class is coming soon. Don't miss the announcement. Click here to join the waitlist now.

Welcome to the Progression Series: 4 podcasts in which I challenge the myth that career progression is only about promotions and pay rises. I introduce you to the 4 pillars of career progression that provide the best motivation for solving your Imposter Syndrome and are the key to making your experience as a lawyer so much easier and more fulfilling.

In this episode:

The 4 Pillars of Career Progression

Progressing your career is about more than a new position, a new job title and the accompanying pay rise. These have their value. But unless they are accompanied by progression in other areas, their impact on your day-to-day experience and performance as a lawyer will be limited. You just find yourself facing the same challenges and problems you did before, only now at a level where the stakes are higher and you have less support.

How is this progress?

Real career progression goes deeper and it lasts SO much longer. It's not just about your career. It's about progressing who you are in a way that impacts every aspect of your life as a lawyer – in a positive and powerful way.

Enter the 4 Pillars of Career Progression.

The 4 pillars of Career Progression are the 4 principal areas of lawyer life that determine how happy and successful you are in your work. They are:

• Recognition
• Confidence
• Balance
• Fun

These pillars are an essential feature of career progression. It only counts as progress if one or more of these areas is in a more advanced state than it was previously. Specifically, if you achieve one or more of the following:

• More recognition
• More confidence
• Better balance
• More fun

You don't have to advance all 4 pillars in order for it to count as career progression. But the more pillars you progress, the more impactful and sustainable your career progression is. Over the next 4 weeks we'll be taking a close look at each of the 4 pillars.

This week's focus: More Recognition

Being recognised for your work and the value you bring is an essential part of career progression, and you probably believe that this recognition can only come externally from a promotion and a shiny new job title. But if you are focusing exclusively on promotion for validation, you miss all the other forms of recognition you are currently getting – not to mention the opportunity to recognise yourself. 

If you see progression solely as a leap up to the next level, you miss the opportunities to internalise your achievements and progress along the way – which means you don't grow as a person or properly prepare yourself for what will be expected of you and who you will need to be at that next level.

Imagine you are fixated on going for partnership but don't get it. If you see that as a failure to get the recognition you crave, you are not taking into account all of your wins along the way: the times you stepped up to the challenge, the times you received positive feedback from clients, the occasions when a partner gave you more client-facing opportunities and responsibility.

Racing to be GIVEN recognition (like a promotion) means you don't take the time or energy to develop the capacity to recognise yourself for all your incremental achievements. If you fail to get a promotion, you see it as a rejection by your boss, or your firm. If you achieve the promotion, you've hung your sense of achievement on what was in someone else's control to give to you, rather than on all the steps YOU took and the progress YOU made along the way. This means you will always need recognition from others to feel valued.

In this episode, I explain why having a strategy for progression that also builds your capacity to recognise yourself is so important. Recognition needs to come from YOU too, not just from other people.

Progressing your career isn't about the promotion. It's about progressing who you are in a way that impacts every aspect of your life as a lawyer.

In Imposter Syndrome Coaching you pick one of the 4 pillars of career progression as your main goal and we work through the 4-step process for solving your Imposter Syndrome to help you achieve it. Enrolment for the next class is coming soon. Don't miss the announcement. Join the waitlist now.

Welcome to the Progression Series: 4 podcasts in which I challenge the myth that career progression is only about promotions and pay rises. I introduce you to the 4 pillars of career progression that provide the best motivation for solving your Imposter Syndrome and are the key to making your experience as a lawyer so much easier and more fulfilling.

In this episode:

The 4 Pillars of Career Progression
Progressing your career is about more than a new position, a new job title and the accompanying pay rise. These have their value. But unless they are accompanied by progression in other areas, their impact on your day to day experience and performance as a lawyer will be limited. You just find yourself facing the same challenges and problems you did before, only now at a level where the stakes are higher and you have less support.  

How is this progress?

Real career progression goes deeper and it lasts SO much longer. It's not just about your career. It's about progressing who you are in a way that impacts every aspect of your life as a lawyer – in a positive and powerful way. 

Enter the 4 Pillars of Career Progression.

The 4 pillars of Career Progression are the 4 principal areas of lawyer life that determine how happy and successful you are in your work. They are: 

• Recognition
• Confidence
• Balance
• Fun

These pillars are an essential feature of career progression. It only counts as progress if one or more of these areas is in a more advanced state than it was previously. Specifically, if you achieve one or more of the following:

• More recognition
• More confidence
• Better balance
• More fun

You don't have to advance all 4 pillars in order for it to count as career progression. But the more pillars you progress, the more impactful and sustainable your career progression is. Over the next 4 weeks we'll be taking a close look at each of the 4 pillars. 

This week's focus: Better Balance.

When you have Imposter Syndrome, thinking of career progression only in promotion terms can put you off the idea of progression altogether. You consider the heavier workload and the increased level of responsibility. You consider that you're someone who already overworks and struggles with work life balance. So you decide you don't want to be a partner, for example, because that will only make things worse. 

So, you pass up opportunities for progression thinking that to do otherwise would give you worse balance.

But the opposite is true. 

When you don't progress your career, your career plateaus and your way of working does not evolve. You keep working the way you always have – overworking, overthinking, playing small and self-sabotaging. There's no incentive to change these unhealthy work habits if all you're doing is staying where you are. 

When you commit to progressing your career this changes. It forces you to take a long hard look at your Imposter Syndrome and to recognise that the way you've been trying to manage it all these years is what is holding you back. And this is what motivates you to change.

One of the unhealthy work habits you'll be motivated to change is overworking. All that quadruple checking your work, trying to make everything perfect, refusing to delegate… as you start to tackle these behaviours something magical will happen. You'll become more efficient and productive. For example, you'll:

• Start setting boundaries (especially with yourself)
• Stop labouring over emails and constantly rechecking your work
• Delegate more and ask for help.

What all of this adds up to is less time wasted on work that doesn't add value. Which means less unproductive work, less stress and ultimately, therefore, better balance. 

Progressing your career isn't about the promotion. It's about progressing yourself. 

Discussed in this episode:

• How you get there is how you stay there
• The value of progress
• Measuring your progress towards better balance

In Imposter Syndrome Coaching you pick one of the 4 pillars of career progression as your main goal and we work through the 4-step process for solving your Imposter Syndrome to help you achieve it. Enrolment for the next class is coming soon. Don't miss the announcement. Join the waitlist now. 

Being a lawyer is hard, right?

This is the received wisdom about the law profession.

• It's hard to get into
• There are high expectations and exacting standards when you get there
• It means long hours, late nights and is intellectually challenging
• There's intense competition for promotion
• There's extreme pressure where the consequences of making a mistake are huge.

Being a lawyer is nothing like the glamorous portrayal you see in the media and movies. If you've ever felt disappointed with the reality of your daily experience of work, it may be comforting to know you're not the only one.

Being a lawyer has its challenges, you know that. But what you may not know is how a deeply ingrained belief that lawyering is hard exacerbates the challenges you experience every day.

In this episode, I explain how you can change that experience, and 'make lawyering easier'. This requires:

• A willingness to question and examine the "accepted truth" of lawyering being hard
• An understanding of how seemingly innocent statements, cliches and stereotypes about lawyering being hard reinforce that  "truth"
• Recognising that "making lawyering easier" is within your control
• Adopting a new belief about being a lawyer, that invites the possibility of ease into your real-life experience of being a lawyer
• Seeing possibility as the key.

I'm not trying to convince you that being a lawyer is easy. It isn't!  I want to show you that there is a way to make it easier and to help you understand the impact of your thoughts on your results.

I explain how changing your thoughts from 'lawyering is hard' to, 'I can make this easier', will make you feel empowered, in control, proactive, creative and motivated and drive you to actions that will make lawyering easier. For example, actions like:

• Honing your craft: the better you are at something, the easier it is to do
• Growing your network: the more people you know, the more help you have access to and the more opportunities you'll attract, which will make getting the support you need easier
• Speaking up in meetings: the more you speak up, the more you'll show your value. The more you show your value, the easier it will be to attract the right work
• Learning to stay calm: the better you are at staying calm (despite the urgency and panic all around you), the easier it is to stay focused, be efficient and get the job done.

All the above are examples of what you need to do to progress your career. What it takes to progress your career and what it takes to make lawyering easier are the same - this is no coincidence. When you progress your career, you also progress who you are. The more YOU progress as a person (develop skills and experience, push through discomfort), the better equipped you are to cope with what being a lawyer throws your way.

When you join Imposter Syndrome Coaching you get the strategy and a process for solving your Imposter Syndrome so you can progress your career. I walk you through every step.

Enrolment for the July 2022 class is coming, 10 - 17 June. Sign up to the wait list here.

There is a Free Webinar on 10 June : How to Progress Your Law Career (without fixing your Imposter Syndrome) which is a great introduction to this work - sign up here.

With all this talk of a cost of living crisis and recession, it's tempting to hunker down and play it small. 

But if you want to keep your career on track during difficult times you need to do the opposite.  

It's more important than ever that you take control of your career, by:

• Being visible 
• Adding value, and 
• Building relationships. 

I'm not here to scaremonger or to try to make you worried. But in turbulent times, when there are so many things in the world that are out of your control, one thing you can have power over is the direction and progression of your own career. 

In this episode, I explain:

• How to think about uncertainty so that you do not panic, or ignore coming change, and
• What to do to bolster your career so that you are in a position of strength to weather the prospective storm.

The episode covers all you need to do to 'double down' on your career so that you make yourself the most visible, valuable and well-connected lawyer you can be. I explain how you should do this, even, and in fact, especially, when you suffer from Imposter Syndrome. 

Because it's your Imposter Syndrome that is holding you back. 

It's what stands between you and doubling down. And doubling down is how you make your career more resilient and ensure it's sustainable in troubled times. 

In Imposter Syndrome Coaching we follow a simple practical process for progressing your career when you have Imposter Syndrome. You get everything you need to double down and recession-proof your career.  Enrolment for the next programme opens soon. Join the waitlist so that you'll be the first to know! 

As a lawyer with Imposter Syndrome, the idea of feeling calm at work might seem like sheer fantasy. 

When you feel like a fraud, that your success is down to luck and that you might be exposed at any time, you are often stressed, overwhelmed and anxious at work. When your Imposter Syndrome is triggered, your reaction is to panic, and to spiral into self-doubt and confusion. The total opposite of calm!

But the ability to stay calm is a vital skill. Especially when you have Imposter Syndrome.

• It's how you do your best work.
• It's how you look after your mental and physical health.
• It's one of the key bits of value you can bring to your clients and colleagues.

The better you are at keeping calm, no matter what is going on around you (and especially when your Imposter Syndrome has been triggered), the more you will progress as a person. And the more you progress as a person, the more your career also progresses.

In this episode, I describe the meaning and value of calm. I explain that calm is not just the 'absence of' strong negative emotions - but also the creating of space for something new - like putting your car in neutral to prepare for the next move. It's how you neutralise unhelpful feelings, reset, and work from a place of stability and safety. I explain that however high-pressure and stressful your work environment may be, it's your responsibility to create that calm within yourself.

I walk you through this calming process, so that you:

• Develop self-awareness to recognise when you are not calm and understand how a calm version of you would react differently.
• Know and anticipate your Imposter Syndrome triggers.
• Allow the negative emotions to pass through without acting on them.
• Using the Imposter Speech tool, remember who you are and trust that you are enough.

When you do this, you can:

• Respond to a client's questioning or doubting, from a place of calm rather than defensiveness or fear.
• Have much easier access to your other internal resources because you've cleared the way by letting go of anger and frustration.
• Think more clearly about an issue, problem-solve at a higher level, and come up with more and better ideas.

In Imposter Speech Coaching one of the results you'll get is the ability to stay calm when all around you are losing their heads! Valuable for you, valuable for your employer and valuable for your client.

Enrolment is opening 10th June. Make sure you're on the waitlist to sign up.

How do you know when your Imposter Syndrome is being triggered? 

Perhaps you experience the classic Imposter Syndrome feelings - that you are a fraud, that your success is down to luck, or that you might be exposed at any time? 

Or perhaps you get carried away by one of the Four Horseman - overthinking, overworking, playing small, and self-sabotage? 

Whichever way Imposter Syndrome triggers affect you, when you work in a high-pressure, competitive environment like a law firm, it is likely to happen ALOT.  

There are so many stressful situations you face, day in, day out which can trigger those familiar negative responses - fear, anger, resentment, frustration...  

For example:  

• Receiving negative feedback. 
• Feeling excluded at a networking event. 
• Being the only woman/person of colour in a meeting. 
• Being abandoned by a boss or partner to hold an important meeting or sign a deal. 

No matter how many times these situations occur, you still feel shocked and upset when they happen, or you worry that something has gone terribly wrong. You wish you - or events, could be different.  

In this episode, I walk you through one of these common triggers. I describe how your Imposter Syndrome makes you respond, and how these negative feelings adversely affect the quality of your work performance, your decision-making skills, your ability to problem-solve and think critically. I also explain that the problem with your Imposter Syndrome, is not that it gets triggered -  but how you react when it does.  

The key is to know your Imposter Syndrome triggers.   

That means fully understanding the events or circumstances that trigger your Imposter Syndrome so you can anticipate it and recognise it when it happens and then remind yourself that nothing has gone wrong.  

Knowing your Imposter Syndrome triggers means you'll be ready for your negative feelings, instead of being ambushed by them.  You'll be able to calm your nervous system and neutralise the negative effect of your Imposter Syndrome.  

Imposter Syndrome triggers are the first thing you'll work on when you join Imposter Syndrome Coaching. You learn the 9 Imposter Syndrome triggers that can happen in the work place and identify those that most typically happen to you. I teach you a technique called Imposter Syndrome Mapping where you identify your core Imposter Syndrome triggers, understand how they work, and then you learn how to neutralise them. Add 17th June 2022 to your diary. The next enrolment for Imposter Syndrome Coaching opens on that day. Make sure you sign up to the Waitlist now, so that you get all the details in time. 

Confidence – if only we had been born with it!

But confidence isn't something you're born with. It isn't innate. It's earned.

Earned confidence is the confidence you get from doing hard things, uncomfortable things, things you are afraid of doing because you don't know how to do them yet. When you think about how a toddler learns to walk, you accept that the only way he or she becomes a confident walker is to take a step then fall then get back up again; try and fail and try again and again until they figure it out. So why, when it comes to you – when you want to be confident at doing something – do you expect it to be the other way round? You want the confidence first before you take any action!

In this episode, I want to transform how you think about confidence so that instead of wishing you had the confidence to act, you take action first to earn the confidence later. Here's what I cover:

• The 3 things that walking and talking teach us about confidence, and how you are ignoring these principles every day.
• Why you should treat confidence like you do your salary.
• The compound effect of earned confidence.
• Why you should be intentional about discomfort.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Episode 4: Fail again, fail better
• Episode 11: The Discomfort Zone
• Episode 13: Courage as a Tool
• Episode 33: The Gift of Negative Feedback

Enrolment for the July 2022 class of Imposter Speech coaching starts on 10 June.  Don't miss out. Sign up to the waitlist to register your interest. 

Do you avoid in-person networking events unless they are compulsory? 

Or attend and only speak to people you know or people more junior than you? 

When you have Imposter Syndrome, walking into a room of people you don't know is triggering. If you feel like a fraud who is scared of being exposed, networking is the last thing you want to do.  

And of course, it's entirely possible to go through your career, not attending events or going to as few as possible.  

It's possible - but it's a missed opportunity.  

If you don't attend in person networking events, you are missing the opportunity: 

• To raise your visibility. You need to raise your visibility so that people know who you are and what you can do. You need people to know who you are and what you can do, so that you get the recognition - and the promotion - you deserve.  

• To attract the support you need (a mentor or a sponsor) to help you progress your career. 

• To build your business. You need to build strong relationships with clients so that they want to work with you and you bring in more business for the firm. 

So how do you do it? 

In this episode, I talk you through 5 steps to help you walk into any room. These are: 

1. Stop thinking your Imposter Syndrome is a problem. 
2. Allow yourself to experience the negative emotions of anxiety and fear without letting them take the reins. 
3. Remember who you are.  
4. Trust that you are enough.  
5. Build confidence, one failure at a time.  

You can implement these steps on your own. But if you're serious about solving your Imposter Syndrome so that networking becomes not just easy, but something you enjoy, then the answer is Imposter Speech Coaching, where you get: 

• Imposter Speech mapping - a practical technique for knowing your Imposter Syndrome triggers and stopping you seeing Imposter Syndrome as a problem. 
• The Imposter Speech - the discovery process, the tool and the evaluation process for remembering who you are and trusting you are enough. 
• Emotional management - the strategy for allowing your negative emotions without letting them take the reins. 
• The Confidence Formula - the process for building confidence one failure at a time.  

This is about so much more than improving your networking skills so you can be more visible. Doing this work will give you the confidence to walk into any room, sit at any table, and speak to anyone. Not just now, but at every stage of your career.  

Enrolment for the July 2022 class of Imposter Speech coaching starts on 10 June.  Don't miss out. Sign up to the waitlist to register your interest.  

You are outgoing in your personal life. But put you in a meeting at work and you barely say a word. You're so quiet, you don't recognise yourself

Not speaking up in meetings is a secret sign of Imposter Syndrome. It's one of the ways in which you play small, and playing small is one of the 4 work behaviours that is harming your career. 

It means that:

• You're not visible.
• When you're not visible, people don't know you.
• When people don't know you, they can't see your value.
• When they can't see your value, you don't get the recognition and rewards you deserve.

Why, when you are confident and gregarious in your personal life, are you a different person at work?

Because of your Imposter Syndrome.

Your biggest fear is of being exposed as a fraud. Speaking up in meetings makes you visible. So it feels too dangerous to expose yourself in this way. 

In your personal life, you're surrounded by family and friends who know and love you. There is no risk of exposure. It feels safe to speak freely and be yourself. 

At work, things are different. You can't rely on those around you to make you feel safe.  You have to create safety for yourself. 

In this episode, I explain how to do this so that:

• Speaking up doesn't feel life threatening. 
• You can say something no-one agrees with.
• You can say something everyone disagrees with.
• Where getting it wrong doesn't mean anything about you.
• Where what you say and how you say it is not 'proof' that you don't deserve to be here. 

Stop waiting for confidence. Start speaking up in meetings, hesitantly, imperfectly. Be willing to do it again and again, until you become confident.

The way you do this is to know who you are, and trust you are enough. I teach you the practical process for doing this in Imposter Speech Coaching. You follow the 5 step Imposter Speech process to reveal who you are, then create your unique, 5 part Imposter Speech to use as a tool for trusting you are enough.

Enrolment for the July 2022 class of Imposter Speech Coaching is coming. Join the waitlist here.  

You may have heard of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, characters from the Old Testament book of Revelation who are sent by God to bring conquest, war, famine and death, signalling the end of the world.

This podcast is no religious study, of course! But the story is a perfect metaphor for impending doom and an apt description of the four work behaviours which, if left unchecked, could lead to your career stalling or even coming to an end.

These four behaviours are:

1. Overworking - when you waste time doing work which adds no value.

The signs:

• Labouring over emails
• Excessively checking your work
• Not delegating
• Not finishing tasks
• Being a perfectionist.

2. Overthinking - when you waste time and compromise your performance with types of thinking that add no value.
The signs:

• Worrying you are going to let people down
• Procrastinating 
• Being scared of not knowing the answer.

3. Playing small  - when you don't get the recognition or opportunities you deserve because you're hiding and keeping your head down to avoid being seen or risking failure.

The signs:

• Keeping quiet in meetings
• Passing up opportunities
• Not showcasing your value.

4. Self-sabotage - when you limit your potential by undermining yourself as soon as you start to make progress.
The signs:

• Judging yourself
• Discounting praise
• Taking negative feedback personally instead of using it as a learning experience.

All of these behaviours are driven by fear, your brain's response to the perceived threat (of being exposed) that you feel when you are a high achiever with Imposter Syndrome. And all of these behaviours add no value. They make you less efficient, and less productive. 

You behave like this because your brain craves safety. Ironic, then, that it's these behaviours that are making you less secure in your career. 

The Four Horsemen represent the four ways you are galloping away from the fear brought on by your Imposter Syndrome. But every time you run away, you reinforce a negative circle of behaviour. Imposter Syndrome is who you are - so continually running from your Imposter Syndrome means you're running from yourself! 

But you can never outrun yourself. 

In this episode, I explain how holding on to the Four Horsemen threatens to derail your career. I reveal that the way to STOP these behaviours is to solve your Imposter Syndrome. This means figuring out who you really are, and what is your unique value. 

It's time to say goodbye to the Four Horsemen and the limiting, negative effects they bring. Solve your Imposter Syndrome, and look forward to fulfilling your potential, getting the recognition you deserve, better balance, and more confidence. 

Check out Imposter Speech Coaching, where I walk you step by step through the process of solving your Imposter Syndrome, taking action from a place of trust (instead of fear) and staying committed until you achieve your goal.

Enrolment for the July 2022 class opens on 1st June. Go to carolineflanagan.com/imposter-speech-coaching, and sign up to the waitlist to make sure you get the details.

How do you make partner when you have Imposter Syndrome?

Going for a promotion puts pressure on anyone. The pressure to consistently present yourself in the best light, to keep delivering results, to achieve the recognition and pay you deserve. But when you have Imposter Syndrome and you already feel like a fraud, or not good enough, this pressure massively intensifies. 

Going for a promotion is actually a TRIGGER for your Imposter Syndrome. Your usual coping mechanisms go into overdrive, so you:

• Overwork with excessive preparation and checking
• Overthink by wasting more of your time worrying
• Play small by making yourself less visible, and
• Self-sabotage by becoming even more self-critical.

But these coping strategies will not improve your chances of success. They deprive you of time to do work of real value, and they negatively affect your performance. When you overwork, overthink, play small and self- sabotage on your way to promotion, you are setting yourself up to do exactly the same when you GET the promotion. 

How you get there is how you stay there.

• Whatever you do now to earn your promotion is what your brain is going to tell you you need to do to stay there!
• Because when you have Imposter Syndrome - your instinct (and what you will default to if your Imposter Syndrome remains unsolved) is to do everything you can to AVOID exposure. So, you will keep doing what you've always done.
• With your current way of working, even if it brings you immediate success and you are promoted - you pay the price in the long run because you further ingrain the negative work practices that: 

a) put you at risk of burnout
b) stop you from fulfilling your potential
c) don't give you the recognition you deserve, and
d) make work less fun.

Instead, you need to be ready for your next level of success, which means being equipped to deal with it, being able to enjoy it, and stepping into being the next version of yourself. 

In this episode, I explain how solving your Imposter Syndrome NOW, is the way to stop overworking, to stop overthinking, and to get that promotion you deserve. 

When you solve your Imposter Syndrome, it means you trust that you're enough. When you trust that you're enough, every action you take, decision you make, and problem you solve, is delivered at a much higher level. Your partnership application will be stronger - and you will be better equipped and prepared for solving your Imposter Syndrome when it is triggered at the next level.

• Today is the last day for enrolment in the May 2022 class of Imposter Speech Coaching.
• You're not too late to apply
• 6 months. Weekly coaching. £3000
• Go to carolineflanagan.com/Imposter-speech-coaching to apply

Do you put yourself forward for speaking events?

Seize opportunities to raise your profile (eg by working on high-stakes projects)?

Attend in-person work events?

Reach out to colleagues or partners you don't know?

Share your accomplishments at work and on social media?

If the answer is no, then you're not being visible enough at work.

Being visible is an essential career skill. If you want to attract opportunities, recognition, promotion, or a pay rise, it's not going to happen if people don't know who you are.

Keeping your head down and getting on with your work - however competent and efficient you may be - is not enough. When people don't know who you are or what you can do, you're overlooked, you feel excluded, and you may see less capable people being rewarded ahead of you.  

When you have Imposter Syndrome, being visible doesn't come naturally. When you feel like a fraud, you worry that making yourself more visible could lead to you being exposed, so you do nothing. And to compound the problem, working from home has made being visible more challenging than ever, adding that extra barrier of effort to making contact with others or showing up at in person events.

But the real problem is not your lack of confidence. Confidence isn't the requirement for action, it's the reward.

The real problem is not knowing who you are, and not trusting that you are enough. Because you don't know who you are or trust that you're enough, you don't do the things you need to do to be visible. The result, of course, is that you're not visible, you're not known, and you don't get the recognition and opportunities you deserve.

In this episode, I explain how to make yourself more visible when you have Imposter Syndrome, so that you will:

• Stop wishing you were more confident, and
• Start knowing who you are, trusting that you're enough and then taking action from a place of trust instead of fear.

This work is deep and foundational. We're not quick fixing here. We're building confidence that lasts. And the good news is, you can get started now, by signing up for my FREE WEBINAR, 5 Vital Steps To Building Confidence That Lasts, Thursday 10th March, 9.30 GMT. CLICK HERE to register.

Do you consume all the content and advice about Imposter Syndrome, but then never actually do anything? 

Do you constantly talk about your Imposter Syndrome to friends, but never talk about the solution? 

Are you always searching for that elusive magic fix for your own special brand of Imposter Syndrome, but never finding it?  

Do you frequently tell yourself that you're going to do something about your Imposter Syndrome, but then never actually commit to doing anything?  

If this is you then join the club! We've all been there. You know what you want (real confidence that lasts) and you know how to get it (by solving the puzzle of your Imposter Syndrome). So what's stopping you from getting stuck in? 
 
Perhaps you have all sorts of sensible-sounding reasons. "It won't work for me. It's not the right time. I'm too busy at work. I'm different. Maybe my Imposter Syndrome is too bad to solve." 

But these really are just excuses. The problem is not that the solution to Imposter Syndrome won't work for you, or that you don't have the time. The problem is how you're thinking about it. These negative thoughts make you feel powerless and unmotivated. They put imaginary obstacles in your way. If everything seems hopeless and too difficult from the get go, why even bother trying? 

So you don't ever get started. And because you don't get started, nothing changes. Your Imposter Syndrome is still causing you the same problems this year as it did last year. It's a vicious circle. 

But what if instead of thinking, "it won't work", you just took that first little step? What if you did just, 'get started'? 

In this episode, I explain how getting started is the most important part of the process. By getting started, you've got skin in the game. You're giving yourself a chance to get to the finish and achieve the results you want, with little wins and changes along the way motivating you to keep going. Imagine you want to run a 10k. If you don't go out and train, the likelihood of you achieving your goal (or even turning up on race day!) Is small. Signing up for that first running club session, however, might just put you on the path to eventual 10k success. 

I talk you through how to make that vital start and explain how to get started on the most important project of your life - solving your Imposter Syndrome.  

P.S. Enrolment for Imposter Speech Coaching opens on 10th March, 2022. Sign up to the waiting list so that you don't miss out. 

P.P.S. To make sure our emails don't end up in your Junk folder, add caroline@carolineflanagan.com to your mailing list today. 

Do you wonder why confidence, on the rare occasions you feel it, never lasts? Or why it comes in short bursts or feels fake? 

That's because you're trying to solve your Imposter Syndrome with quick fixes that don't get to the route of the problem; your lack of trust in who you are.  

When something happens to trigger your Imposter Syndrome, you make it mean that you're not enough: not experienced enough, not knowledgable enough, not assertive enough, not male enough...

And because you feel you're not enough, you show up that way at work: 

• Overthinking - spending hours worrying about your performance, feeling that you are a fraud and that you are letting people down 
• Overworking - procrastinating, labouring over your work, excessively checking what you've done, and 
• Playing small - shying away from opportunities and not speaking up in meetings.  

But the real problem isn't you. Or that you're not enough. The problem is a lack of trust. You don't trust who you are. You don't trust that you are enough.  

Imagine a house with no foundations. It wouldn't stand up for long! Your confidence is the same. Without the firm foundations of trust in yourself, your confidence won't last.  

In this episode, I explain that if you want to build confidence that lasts, you must trust that you're enough, and make sure every action you take comes from this place of trust. Forget confidence as the objective. When you trust you are enough, your confidence takes care of itself. This is part of the step by step process I walk you through in Imposter Speech Coaching for building the trust you need to create confidence that lasts.  

P.S. Registration for Imposter Speech Coaching opens on 10th March, 2022. Sign up to the waiting list so that you don't miss out. 

P.P.S. To make sure our emails don't end up in your Junk folder, add caroline@carolineflanagan.com to your mailing list today. 

If you think progressing your career when you have Imposter Syndrome is all about the action, think again.  

It's the emotions that drive your actions that count. Why?

• Because emotion lies behind everything we do. 
• Because FEAR is the emotion behind your Imposter Syndrome, driving overworking, overthinking, playing small and self sabotage – which are the behaviours keeping you stuck and stopping you progressing the way you want or need to. 
• Because if you want to progress, you need to a) be AWARE of the emotions that don't serve you and b) learn how to TURN ON those that do.  

And the good news is, you only need to master 5 of them! 

In this podcast episode, I describe the 5 emotions that you need to choose to feel, and then explain how to feel them consistently and intentionally, if you are going to progress your career.  

NB - confidence is not on the list! 

Tune in now to find out what these 5 emotions are. And If you're a lawyer with Imposter Syndrome seeking better balance, more recognition, more confidence or you just want to do your day job with a lot more ease, check out Imposter Syndrome Coaching for lawyers. Enrolment opens soon. Join the waitlist so that you'll be the first to know! 

Has your boss ever told you they believe in you? That you are capable, that you have great potential, or that you should apply for a promotion or pay rise? 

It should feel like a huge pat on the back to have a senior or respected colleague appreciate you like this: 

• It's a reflection of your good work 
• It shows they are invested in you 
• It suggests they are keen to support your career. 

But when you have Imposter Syndrome, people believing in you isn't welcome approval - it's a daunting trigger. 

Having a boss who believes in you makes you feel even more pressured and afraid. That's it! Your time's up! You're going to be found out for sure. The stakes are higher now. You not only have to worry about letting yourself down, but letting your boss down too. The risk of shame feels real, and it pushes you more than ever towards behaviour that is holding you back: 

• Overthinking 
• Overworking and 
• Playing small.

In this episode I explain how this behaviour creates unwanted results and I tell you what to do instead to create the results you DO want.  

Remember - Imposter Syndrome isn't a problem you need to fix. It's a puzzle that you need to solve. In this episode I give you   

the simple, practical 3-step process to help you solve it. 

When you solve your Imposter Syndrome, other people's belief in you won't tell you anything new. It will confirm what you already know.  

 Tune in to learn more.  

P.S. Registration for Imposter Speech Coaching opens on 10th March, 2022. Don't miss out. Sign up to the mailing list so you receive the info straight to your inbox. 

P.P.S. To make sure our emails don't end up in your Junk folder, add caroline@carolineflanagan.com to your mailing list today. 

Thinking your successes are down to luck is a classic sign of Imposter Syndrome.

Instead of celebrating in your success and believing in how great you are, your Imposter Syndrome is triggered and you have thoughts like: 

"I shouldn't be here" 

"It's all down to luck" and 

"My luck is going to run out". 

This way of thinking is the reason you are: 

- Overworking

- Playing small

- Seeking external validation.  

When this happens, trying to tell yourself your success isn't down to luck seems like the best solution (and it's what your friends and colleagues will tell you to do). But it never works, and here's why: 
 
Imposter Syndrome doesn't care about the truth.  

So you can resist all you like. You can tell yourself how hard you worked to get here. But it won't make any difference. No matter how successful you are, when you have Imposter Syndrome, your success always feels like luck. 

This isn't a problem.  

 In this episode I explain why, and I give you the simple solution that will: 

• Help you feel responsible for your own success 
• Leave you feeling more in control 
• Build trust in your ability to create success in the future. 

Tune in now to find out.

Enrolment for the Imposter Speech Programme is opening 10th March 2022. Don't miss out. Sign up to the mailing list so you receive the info straight to your inbox. 

P.S. To make sure our emails don't end up in your Junk folder, add caroline@carolineflanagan.com to your mailing list today.

When you're a lawyer with Imposter Syndrome, it's hard to enjoy your work. You spend so much time feeling stressed, anxious and overwhelmed, you lose touch with the things that attracted you to the job in the first place. Your daily experience of work is so far removed from the idea of enjoyment, you view suffering through it as the norm.

It doesn't have to be this way.

You may not be able to change your demanding clients. You may have little control over the hours. But what you can control, is how much you allow negative emotions like fear and anxiety to define your experience of work. Tune in to discover more.

How do you feel on a Sunday evening?

If you frequently feel like you're dreading the start of the working week, there's a problem.

Getting the Sunday 'dreads' is a sign that your Imposter Syndrome has been triggered. Perhaps you're thinking about all the things you should have done but haven't? Perhaps you're worrying because you don't know what's coming in the week ahead - or feel insecure about your ability to cope with any challenges that may arise?

But the problem isn't really with what's coming - or what you haven't done, it's with how you are thinking about you and what you are making it mean.

P.s. If you found this episode helpful, you can get more great advice on Imposter Syndrome free every week, direct to your inbox. Sign up here 

How do you feel about failure? Would you welcome it? Can you accept it and learn from it when it happens?

If you suffer from Imposter Syndrome, I know that failure is one of the things you want to avoid at all costs.

If this is you, then it's time to revisit your beliefs about failure, what it takes to succeed and why failure tolerance is a skill you need to start developing today.

In this episode:

• What is Failure Tolerance?
• Why does it matter?
• The mistakes you are making in how you view failure
• How to develop your Failure Tolerance

Many of my clients come to me because they aren't getting the recognition they deserve and they are feeling undervalued.

Recognition - when others show appreciation for what you do and the value you bring - is a basic human need and is particularly important when you work in an industry that demands so much of you. That's why it's important to understand what recognition is, why it matters and what you're doing that is stopping you from getting the recognition you deserve.

Tune in to learn more.

Excessive checking is one of the secret signs of Imposter Syndrome because it is work that is driven by the fear of not being enough and the threat of being found out.

It may feel like it's best to keep checking. But excessively checking your work comes at a cost. It eats up time that could be better spent completing other work, catching up with loved ones or taking better care of yourself. It undermines your performance and stops you attracting the recognition you deserve. And it makes your job less fun than it should be.

In this episode, I explain what excessively checking your work is, why you're doing it and I talk about the powerful practical portable tool that will help you stop.

I know, when it comes to your work, that long hours come with the territory. It's the nature of the work you do. But are you sure that every single one of those hours is adding value to what you do?

In this episode, I talk about what I call Overworking - excessive working, driven by Imposter Syndrome (that feeling of not being enough), which adds little or no value and is causing you to work longer hours than you need to. The most obvious examples of this are perfectionism and procrastination.

Just like Overthinking (see episode 108), Overworking is responsible for the 4 key challenges you are struggling within your career:

1. not enough time 
2. not performing to your potential 
3. not getting the recognition you deserve 
4. not enjoying your job (as much as you used to)

And, as with Overthinking, the solution for stopping Overworking is just one simple tool: your Imposter Speech.

Do you know the single most important cause of most of the issues you struggle with in your career? No, it isn't your demanding client. It isn't your boss. Neither is it the large number of hours you are expected to work each year. It's what your brain does when it operates from the fear of not being enough and it's called Overthinking.

In this episode I introduce you to the concept of Overthinking - what it is, what it's costing you in your career, and the first steps you need to take to put a stop to it.

Mentioned in this episode:

Episode #52: Thought Drama

Book:

Flow:The Psychology of Happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Do you labour over emails? 

Your approach to writing emails may seem like a small thing, but how you write them and how long it takes you speaks volumes about how you're showing up to your work.  When it's a laborious process that takes longer than it should, it means you are showing up from some form of not being enough, and that points to Imposter Syndrome.

Fixing this is easier than you might think. You don't need a confidence-building course, you just need a strategy for getting out of your own head when your Imposter Syndrome is triggered.

In this episode I explain why you are always trying to make your emails perfect, how it is stopping you from doing your best work and how to use your Imposter Speech to change that, so you stop overthinking, stop overworking and start getting the recognition you deserve.

You can't short cut your way to confidence.  

Faking it 'til you make it may help you out when you need a quick fix, but it is not a long term strategy for building confidence. 

It's often one of the 'tricks' you're advised to use to help you 'overcome' your Imposter Syndrome - a mindset tactic that encourages you to do something you're terrified or reluctant to do. It works on the premise that if you 'pretend' to be able to do something often enough, or for long enough, you grow the capability to actually do it. 

Sounds good, right?

The problem with faking it though is that your relationship with yourself doesn't change. It gives you a mask to wear, it makes you well-practised - but you are still practising being someone you are not. The best way to 'make it' is by gaining confidence in who you really ARE. 

In this episode, I cover all the downsides to the faking it approach and describe what you need to do instead. I explain how you need to put in the work to discover who you really are, and learn to take action from a place of trusting that you are enough.

This is the method I teach in Imposter Syndrome Coaching. Enrolment for the next coaching programme is coming soon. Make sure you're on the waitlist so that you're the first to. know.

We're also excited to be launching a new podcast on 1 November - 'Lawyers with Imposter Syndrome'. It will have lots of client case studies, interviews, and will revisit key issues about Imposter Syndrome in the Legal industry. It will also support you through Imposter Syndrome Coaching. 

Are you being haunted by a past failure?

Being haunted by the shadow of past failure is one of the secret signs of Imposter Syndrome that is causing you to overthink and overwork and is stopping you from performing as well as you could. This is not what failure is supposed to do.

I've had my share of failures and disappointments. But they don't haunt me, they teach me - a better way of working. A more effective way to show up. Most importantly, I use my past failures to build my present belief.

Past failures shouldn't haunt you, they should evolve you. When you process them correctly they don't undermine your self-belief, they build it.

To get more support with your Imposter Syndrome sign up to my newsletter 

Do tasks take you longer than they should? Do you constantly underestimate how long a piece of work will take you?

Things taking longer than they should is one of the secret signs of Imposter Syndrome. It comes from overthinking and overworking and it means you're not performing at your highest level.

If you suffer from Imposter Syndrome you probably blame yourself. You  think you don't know enough or aren't experienced enough and that everyone around you does things more quickly. But this kind of thinking causes procrastination, (more) self-judgement and doing more work than is actually needed so that in the end, things really do take longer than they should!

In this episode, I explain the importance of  showing up to your work from a place of sufficiency and belief so you can laser in on the task at hand and get stuff done in the right amount of time.  But sufficiency and belief aren't built in a day. They need to be shaped and formed and built over time using your Imposter Speech.

In this podcast:

• Why things taking longer than they should is a secret sign of Imposter Syndrome
• 4 behaviours that make things take longer than they should
• The right amount of time to spend on a task
• How your Imposter Speech builds sufficiency and belief

Resources:

The Imposter Series - episodes 78 to 86 of the Caroline Flanagan Podcast.

Do you ever feel anxious about client meetings? Do you worry about being asked a question you don't know how to answer? Does your stress and anxiety come from a fear of not knowing enough?

Many of you are placing too much importance on what you know. Or more typically, on what you think you know or don't know. In this episode, I talk about why knowledge is important but, if you suffer from Imposter Syndrome, why it will never be enough.

You'll hear the story of my client who claims to know he is a good lawyer, but whose thoughts and actions show that he doesn't actually believe it. This is one of the Hidden Signs of Imposter Syndrome (no.56 - knowing but not believing) which may be causing you to overthink and overwork and could be stopping you from getting the recognition you deserve.

"It's either feast or famine" is an expression I used all the time when I was a lawyer in the City before I understood how results are created. Fifteen years later, my clients are still using it to describe their experience of work - one minute you're overwhelmed and your billings are up 200%, the next minute the transaction is over,  your billings are down and you're lying awake at night worrying about paying the bills.

But although "feast or famine" seems like a fun and frivolous way of thinking about the vicissitudes of lawyer life, there is no such thing as an innocent thought. Every thought creates a result. Think "it's either feast or famine" and that's exactly what you'll get.

In this episode, I explain why, if you want work to feel less volatile, you need to stop entertaining volatile thoughts. And if you want to work in a calmer and steadier way, you need to start entertaining calm and steady thoughts. And then I offer you a calm and steady thought that will ensure you never experience feast and famine again.