Power Posing, Imposter Syndrome, and the Giver Taker Spectrum

In her new book, Presence: Bringing your Boldest Self to your Biggest Challenges, Amy Cuddy explains how presence can combat impostor syndrome. I learned about Dr. Cuddy’s work on power posing when I was helping students to prepare for the last 3MT competition. Now part of pop culture, Dr. Cuddy suggests that people assume the “wonder woman” pose in private (excepting sports, public power posing is a faux pas) before a challenging situation. Biofeedback research indicates that power poses trigger the secretion of the power hormone testosterone, while shrinking violet poses trigger the secretion of the stress hormone cortisol.

Cortisol is secreted when the amygdala, also known as the lizard brain, tells you that you’re not good enough to meet that challenge in front of you. It’s what keeps you from speaking up in class or in scientific meetings. It is the wellspring of imposter syndrome, a psychological pattern wherein people doubt their accomplishments and have a persistent internal fear of being exposed a fraud. Although imposter syndrome is thought to be more prevalent in women, according to Dr. Cuddy, men also suffer from it. It’s just that men may be better at managing it (presumably because of higher levels of testosterone, more abundant power poses, and of course, the sociocultural norms that continue to elevate men relative to women – for example, men, imagine if your ideas weren’t taken seriously in a meeting when you spoke up).

Social vs. Personal Power.

Reading Presence, I learned how I am getting over my own imposter syndrome. According to Dr. Cuddy, imposter syndrome is influenced by two types of power: social and personal. Social power is the power that you find outside with others. It comes in many forms including hierarchy and influence. This power is in limited supply and is gained at the expense of other people. This is the place where people jockey for position, be it in a field of research or in an organization. It is in this jockeying where people suffering from imposter syndrome often relinquish social power, and where confident people with a strong internal locus of control dominate and gain social power. By contrast, personal power comes from within. It is unlimited, and accessible to you at any time. Personal power is based on your values, behavior, attitude, etc., which help give you strength to do what you know is right for you and for others. It’s about giving, not taking. Dr. Cuddy suggests that by focusing on personal power, you acquire social power as a by-product.

The Giver-Taker Spectrum.

In his book Give and Take, Adam Grant introduces us to the giver-taker spectrum. According to him, there are three types of people in the workplace: takers, matchers, and givers. Takers are selfish, putting their interests ahead of everyone else. Most of us are matchers who expect reciprocity when doing a favor for someone else. Then there are the givers, who do all kinds of selfless acts with no expectation of favor return. You might think that nice guys finish last, but that’s not what Dr. Grant’s research suggests. While some givers are on the bottom, a significant number of them are found on top.

According to Dr. Grant, takers are often found out and punished by their networks as a form of social justice. By contrast, givers build networks of grateful colleagues who will endorse them to others. Givers focus on contributing to the greater good and are freely giving of their time and effort. This earns them deep gratitude and endorsements, sometimes from perfect strangers.

While Dr. Grant argues that giving is the best route to increasing social stature, he suggests that in order to gain social capital as a giver, its important to set boundaries and not to let giving get in the way of personal goals. Therefore, giving to gain social capital requires a balance between helping others and respecting your own needs. He suggests giving small gifts, widely and frequently. As a graduate student, this can be as simple as providing feedback or helping with experimental design. But be careful not to get pulled in too far, which can happen when people lose sight of their own needs. In setting boundaries, people will appreciate your frequent help, yet respect that you have your own work to do. Through giving, you can develop a positive professional reputation, which can provide you with the necessary feedback to help you to beat back those negative feelings associated with imposter syndrome.

Like many of you, I have struggled with imposter syndrome throughout my career. When called to participate in leadership activities, I have felt like the poor cousin compared to others at the table who have had more prestigious research careers than I. I have made strategic errors that have prevented me from gaining more social power in my field. I chalk some of that up to not learning about important subjects such as leadership, personal branding, etc. Like many of you, I focused my training only on the technical. Now, looking back, I believe that my career trajectory could have been better had I spent time learning about organizational psychology.

Over the years, my impostor syndrome has faded. I believe this is because, deep down, I am a giver. For example, as long as I have been at UCalgary, I have directed our genome engineering core facility, which helps faculty to make genetically engineered mice and cell lines. My newest thing, is leading our new graduate student professional skills office, which I hope will help students (and postdocs) with their career development.