Imposter Syndrome Masterclass
Harness the tools that will help you embrace self-doubt and peak your self-confidence in time for your next career challenge.
This course is no longer available.
Explore other coursesCourse overview
Turn your crippling imposter experience into a career-building superpower.
You get: ✅ 10 video lessons ✅ 9 self-paced challenges ✅ 1 live session ✅ a signed hardback copy of Marc's book ✅ an exclusive momento for course alumni...
From the author of the uniquely data-driven new book on managing the so-called Imposter Syndrome comes the interactive workshop that teaches the tools you need to reframe your relationship with the feelings of being a fraud in the workplace.
"You're NOT good enough...
...those people to whom you compare yourself are every bit as superior as you think they are.
They know more than you...and they're going to find you OUT!"
Sound familiar?
This is how you speak to yourself when you think you're a fraud but all the hard evidence of your success says otherwise.
This self-doubting, confidence-draining voice in your head is the so-called Imposter Syndrome.
But you DO know enough...
...and as part of this community, you will connect with the others who feel as you do.
You will discover the hidden histories behind the personal and professional origins of the Imposter Syndrome.
From new research directed by Marc (your host), you will acquire the tools and frameworks to prevent your self-doubt from interfering with your day-to-day life and career.
This is NOT an Imposter Syndrome workshop...
...this is the workshop that will convince you to ditch the term 'imposter syndrome' forever.
Recast 'syndrome' as 'phenomenon' and build your path towards teaching others how common the imposter experience actually is.
Who is this workshop for?
01
Ambitious early-career scientists who feel like a fraud and want to find the community of others who feel as they do.
02
University graduates who want to grow their self-confidence to make the most of their first major career move.
03
Emerging leaders who want to level-up their ability to serve others in their team who might struggle with self-confidence.
04
Career-changers moving between academia and industry who worry that they don't know enough compared to those on the 'other side'.
What you’ll get out of this workshop
Enhance your awareness of how language impacts the severity of your imposter experiences.
- Critique the common terms associated with Imposter Syndrome.
- Recast 'syndrome' as 'phenomenon' and build your path towards teaching others how common the imposter experience actually is.
Produce your case against the 'imposter' label.
- Break down all the mechanisms through which genuine imposters come to be.
- Build the case against having ever labeled yourself as a phoney by investigating the psychological 'opposite' of the Imposter Syndrome.
Reframe social comparison to focus on self-improvement.
- Design a path to a productive focus on comparing you to an earlier version of yourself.
- Break free from social comparisons that are holding you back by testing how your workplace metrics influence your decision-making.
A toolkit for turning repeated rejection into real opportunity.
- Deploy a subtle class of storytelling to reveal the fullness of your efforts from a hidden side of your resumé.
- Write and report on your approach to turning failures into experiments.
Construct a productivity-enhancing approach to gratitude.
- Dive deep into the odds of ever being alive!
- Reflect on the genealogy frameworks that will maximise your time spent on action, celebrating success, and avoiding self-sabotage.
Principles of leadership for when the imposter tables turn.
- Devise an approach to support team members who might share their own imposter struggles.
- Collaborate with your course cohort to compose an approach to supporting others who might confide in you the story of their imposter struggles.
What’s included
Live sessions
Learn directly from Marc Reid, PhD in a real-time, interactive format.
Lifetime access
Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.
Community of peers
Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.
Certificate of completion
Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.
Maven Guarantee
This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.
Course syllabus
22 lessons • 9 projects
Week 1
- 📄
1. Find the others [VIDEO LESSON]
Complete by Nov 14 - ✍️
1. Find the others!
Submit by Nov 14 - 📄
1. TEMPLATE – Find the others!
- 📄
2. What drives you to 'succeed'? [VIDEO LESSON]
Complete by Nov 16 - ✍️
2. What drives you to 'succeed'?
Submit by Nov 16 - 📄
2. TEMPLATE – What drives you to 'succeed'?
1. Find the others!
Anyone can feel like a fraud. Find the others!
There is a sticky loneliness to the so-called Imposter Syndrome. It adheres to you, even if you've heard others mentioning Imposter Syndrome in passing.
2. What drives you to 'succeed'?
We're drawn to an origin story.
This is where you will start to delineate the specifics of the story behind your imposter experience(s).
Week 2
- 📄
3. Which imposter are you? [VIDEO LESSON]
Complete by Nov 19 - ✍️
3. Which imposter are you?
Submit by Nov 19 - 📄
3. TEMPLATE – Which imposter are you?
- 📄
4. Your Imposter Cycle [VIDEO LESSON]
Complete by Nov 23 - ✍️
4. Your Imposter Cycle
Submit by Nov 23 - 📄
4. TEMPLATE – You Imposter Cycle
3. Which imposter are you?
To manage your imposter experience, you first need to break it down. You can categorise your imposter experiences by their origin and how they manifest in you.
Exactly which type of imposter do you think you are?!
4. Your Imposter Cycle
Recognise the trap of the Imposter Cycle as the mechanism that drives your procrastination and overwork. Again and again.
Week 3
- 📄
5. Genuine imposters [VIDEO LESSON]
Complete by Nov 26 - ✍️
5. Genuine imposters
Submit by Nov 26 - 📄
5. TEMPLATE – Genuine imposters
- 📄
6. Finding a new perspective [VIDEO LESSON]
Complete by Nov 28 - ✍️
6. Finding a new perspective
Submit by Nov 28 - 📄
6. TEMPLATE – Finding a new perspective
- 📄
7. Failing better [VIDEO LESSON]
Complete by Nov 30 - ✍️
7. Fail Better
Submit by Nov 30 - 📄
7. TEMPLATE – Failing better
5. Genuine imposters
Imposters and real frauds are everywhere in many forms.
In this module, you face a fact of your imposter experience that hides in plain sight...
6. Finding a new perspective
The branches of your family tree can reveal the chance occurrences that led to you. Remember, none of your direct ancestors died before having children.
7. Fail better
Celebrate your rejections and failures as experiments towards your goal.
Week 4
- 📄
8 - Compare carefully [VIDEO LESSON]
Complete by Dec 3 - ✍️
8. Compare carefully
Submit by Dec 3 - 📄
8. TEMPLATE – Compare carefully
- 📄
9. Questioning your brain [VIDEO LESSON]
Complete by Dec 7 - ✍️
9. Questioning Your Brain
Submit by Dec 7 - 📄
9. TEMPLATE – Questioning your brain
8. Comparing carefully
Beware of your environment. You will always compare yourself to those around you. Moving from one stage or place in your career to another is a strong trigger for imposter experiences.
9. Questioning Your Brain
Your brain predicts more so than it reacts. There are not two people inside your head and there is not an ancestral ape version of you calling the shots.
Week 5
- 📄
10. Without you, it had never been
Complete by Dec 9
10. Without you, it had never been.
A closing message from Marc, and one final challenge for you to consider for the long-term.
Bonus
- 📄
Novelty and the Unknown: a conversation on the Imposter Phenomenon and Entrepreneurship
- 📄
Academia, Entrepreneurship, and Feeling Like a Fraud | Strathclyde Business School Interview
- 📄
Revisiting the Imposter Phenomenon with Dr Marc Reid
Bonus video: Novelty and the Unknown
Marc sits down with Dr Lucrezia Casulli from the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship (University of Strathclyde).
Marc and Ezia discuss Marc's experience in balancing academic and entrepreneurial ventures.
OUTLINE
00:00 - Introduction
03:41 - Discovering new worlds through taking risks
04:20 - Navigating start-ups and academia
07:27 - Marc's research on the Imposter Phenomenon
14:19 - The 'good side' of imposter experiences
17:27 - Understanding and managing imposter experiences
18:27 - Other ways to cope with imposter experiences
24:09 - Thriving in uncertainty
Bonus video: Academia, Entrepreneurship, and Feeling Like a Fraud
A 2021 interview with Marc, discussing life at the bridge between academia and business. Marc discusses his book 'You Are (Not) a Fraud: A Scientist's Guide to the Imposter Phenomenon'.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
00:00 - An introduction to Marc's professional life
01:37 - Can you tell us about your personal experience of feeling like a fraud?
04:20 - What would you say to others that may feel like an imposter?
04:47 - Where do you track the root causes of your Imposter Phenomenon?
08:36 - The inevitable question...How do I overcome Imposter Phenomenon?
10:42 - Rejection and managing failure
13:55 - Stories of repeated rejection
16:43 - Can you tell us about your CV of Failures?
Bonus video: Revisiting the Imposter Phenomenon
Marc sits down with Dr Matthew Horwitz to discuss the motivations behind his book, You Are (Not) a Fraud: A Scientist's Guide to the Imposter Phenomenon.
What students are saying
Workshop schedule
09:00 – 12:00 EST (time zone may vary)
Part 1
Reflection
Our live session begins with a reflective exercise followed by a breakout session for you to learn about yourself and your cohort.
Using data generated for your cohort, by your cohort, interactive exercises help you see that you're not alone in feeling like a fraud.
Part 2
Awareness
A series of individual projects and peer feedback challenges introduce you to tools you need to question your relationship with the so-called Imposter Syndrome.
Part 3
Action
By the end of the Imposter Syndrome Masterclass, you will swap your short-term self-doubt for long-term self-confidence.
During the final part of the session, you will identify your strategies for how you will face every new imposter experience from here on out.
What people are saying
Ivan Sasselli, PhD
Sara Kyne, PhD
Jessica Holien, PhD
Audrey Ndukwe
Meet Marc
Marc Reid, PhD
Marc Reid, PhD
Course Leader
Based in Scotland, Marc is an award-winning scientist, author and speaker. Yet, his experience of the so-called Imposter Syndrome threatened to end his career before it began.
He is the author of You Are (Not) a Fraud: A Scientist's Guide to the Imposter Phenomenon.
From Marc's once secret journal emerged a research journey to discover the hidden stories of high achievers who feel like they're a fraud about to be 'found out' and fired.
Based on the book's 18 exercises, and workshops delivered to audiences around the world, Marc's cohort-based course makes a single promise:
To turn your imposter experience from potential saboteur to career-long superpower.
Trusted across sectors, over the globe.
Uniquely data-driven content
Workshop exercises are derived from over 5 years of Marc's book-related research.
Interactive and project-based
You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams. Together, you will complete innovative exercises to generate insightful, anonymised data for the cohort, by the cohort.
Led by a world-class scientist and facilitator
100% of surveyed participants in the Imposter Syndrome Masterclass highly recommended Marc as a course facilitator.