Irregardless of political leanings, this book should be read by anyone starting or in the early stages of a career. These stories are all from younger ladies (early to mid-20s), but their stories spoke to me even though I would consider the start of my career to have happened in my late 30s and am now in my 40s. “Turns out that the little unqualified voice telling you you’re a fraud actually has a name: imposter syndrome. It’s an uninvited guest that will try to derail you… But then I thought, Roy is smart. If Roy trusted me to handle this, maybe he saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself.” (From the essay by Molly Dillon)
Imposter syndrome. No matter what our age, we get it.
I wrote down so many quotes from this book, but I think this is my favorite. From the essay by Jaimie Woo:
“There is a natural fear of being unable to live up to what’s expected of you, and it took me a long while to get to this realization: You are not randomly here. The work you’ve put in and the experiences you’ve had have led you to where you are, and you were chosen for a reason. You might not know that exact reason, or even believe it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
On the VP’s developing cancer initiative, for example, I might not have had extensive expertise, but in the beginning stages, as we were building up our ranks, I demonstrated that I was willing to work really hard. And there is something to be said about just working really hard. I did what was asked of me, and then I did more. I stayed late. I asked questions when I didn’t understand. By letting my hard work speak for itself, I was relied on and then given further opportunities.”