Imposter Syndrome vs. Career Malaise vs. Corporate Politics Fatigue

Imposter syndrome is a lack of confidence in your skills and abilities, as well as a fear that you’ll be “found out.” The syndrome is often linked to perfectionism, which may stem from childhood. It can also be triggered by a sudden change in circumstances, such as receiving an award or promotion.

Career malaise is a feeling of monotony or discontent with where your career is at this point in time. Most people associate the term with mid-career burnout, but it can also be caused by a lack of upward mobility, poor pay or benefits, workplace politics that prevent you from doing your best work and more. In contrast to imposter syndrome, people who suffer from malaise don’t feel like they don’t belong where they are—they may even have been happy at one point in their careers—but something has changed over time that makes them no longer enjoy working there as much as they once did.

Corporate politics fatigue can be experienced at all levels in the corporate hierarchy. You might feel exhausted by office politics when you are promoted (and have to navigate new social dynamics), when you are starting a new job, or when you are suddenly asked to take on a new role within your organization.

Although most people think of office politics as an issue that only affects those at the top of the corporate hierarchy, it can also be experienced at all levels in the corporate hierarchy.

Who experiences the three conditions?

Anyone can experience these conditions. However, people in the corporate world are the most likely to experience them. Career transitions are also a catalyst for experiencing these conditions, as is working in a job you hate.

Signs of imposter syndrome

The symptoms of imposter syndrome include:

• Fear of being found out as a fraud.

• Fear of being compromised because your lack of experience and/or falsified skillset.

• Fear of being criticized.

• Fear of being fired.

• Fear of being made fun of or ridiculed in front of others, even if it's not meant maliciously.

If any one or more than one applies to you, then yes—it's possible that your career is suffering from imposter syndrome!

Signs of career malaise

• Lack of motivation: You seem to be working on autopilot, not really getting much done.

• Boredom: The job you used to love no longer seems satisfying or fulfilling.

• Feeling stuck: You can't figure out what's wrong with your career, but something definitely is—and it’s affecting every area of your life!

You may also have some of these other signs of career malaise:

• Feeling like you're not making progress at work (do you feel like you're spinning your wheels?)

• Feeling like there's something more that could be done at work and/or something less that should have been done (this is often called "bullshitting" by the people who notice it)

• Feeling bad about yourself because of how others see/treat you at work (i.e., feeling inadequate or incompetent)

Signs of corporate politics exhaustion

• You feel like you have no control over your career.

• You feel like your work is not valued.

• You feel like you have no say in the direction of your department or company.

• You feel like you are doing more work than you are getting credit for.

• You report to managers who suffer from imposter syndrome, most notably those that were put in place for all the wrong reasons (misrepresentation of skills, friend of a friend (buddy system), no experience, etc.)

• You have inexperienced micromanagers making uninformed, unilateral decisions around topics such buy vs. build, outsourcing, or invoking policies that venture far from the already established culture of the organization.

Overcoming imposter syndrome, career malaise, and corporate politics exhaustion

• You’re not alone.

• It’s not your fault.

It’s okay to feel this way, and it's not your fault. In fact, I'd argue that these feelings are actually a sign of intelligence. Being able to recognize that you might be better than the job you have is a sign of self-awareness, which is an important skill for any professional to have; however, if this feeling leads you to pursue more meaningful work or change jobs altogether because of it, there may still be some things holding you back from achieving what you want.

Once you know what's really bothering you, it will be easier to deal with it.

So, if you're experiencing one of these feelings or another and aren't sure what the cause is, don't take it personally. Take a step back and look at your situation objectively to see if there's anything that has changed over time in your role or company culture. If so, talk with someone about what's going on and see how they feel about it as well.

You should also be aware that sometimes issues like these can signal an underlying problem with what we call "corporate politics exhaustion" (CPE). CPE is when you've become so tired from dealing with office politics that it affects your ability to do good work or even enjoy your job anymore. When this happens, it's usually because there are too many people involved in decision-making processes who don't communicate openly enough for everyone on the team—or even just for one person—to stay informed about important decisions coming down from management above them. In this case, there may not be anything inherently wrong with either yourself or anyone else; rather than being caused by any particular individual's behavior or personality traits alone though they can still affect us negatively in ways we wouldn't normally expect them too.

Sum It Up!

When you mix imposter syndrome, career malaise, and fatigue from corporate politics into a big bowl the end result is a big bowl of "THE GREAT RESIGNATION" soup...wondering when corporations will figure this out on their own instead of wasteful spending on the same old touchy-feely consultants in "touchy/feely" therapy sessions that present big fancy words for what ultimately is common sense.

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