On imposter syndrome
If you're anything like me, you'll worry about whether you're using your privilege effectively. Here are some tips about managing your anxiety when working in ethics.
Photo by Joydeep Sensarma on Unsplash
Most ethicists I speak with get imposter syndrome at regular intervals. This includes people across the ethics spectrum, from trust & safety teams, to open data advocates, to sustainability leads to DEI professionals. We worry about whether we’ve got the skill, ability and knowledge to fulfil the task at hand. This is an emotional burden which takes a fair amount of processing and I think comes more frequently than a person in the average professional services job.
I think this is because our roles are misunderstood by some of our colleagues, and so we can forget our role too. We’re often (mistakenly) referred to as the ‘moral compass’ of an organisation. This means that we can feel like we’re being put to an unattainable standard. We know that we’re infallible humans, who will make moral mistakes in our personal lives. We are aware that we have political opinions, that stand in contrast with other people’s political opinions. We also know that our job involves slow transformation of an organisation… it’s difficult to see the results of this in the short-term, so it’s difficult to understand whether we are good at our roles or not.
I think that ethicists working in organisations are more exposed to imposter syndrome compared to other jobs, simply because the bar for ethics is seen as so much higher.
I think that ethicists working in organisations are more exposed to imposter syndrome compared to other jobs, simply because the bar for ethics is seen as so much higher. All too often ethics is viewed incorrectly as a binary. The binary being that either you’ve done the right thing, or you haven’t. Either the organisation is ‘completely ethical’ or an ‘evil corporation’. And by believing that there is only one right thing, then you’ve set yourself up to regularly fail. Here are some ways and methods that I’ve used to reduce imposter syndrome in my role(s).
1. Understand that being ‘ethical’ isn’t binary
In no other profession are practitioners expected to get perfect results from the start, or indeed, ever. Instead, a person or a team is tasked to be better this year compared to the previous year.
The role of an ethicist is to ensure your organisation is working towards the contextual values that are held by them, and being transparent about how they are doing this and ensuring they can be held accountable. A great first year involves ensuring that the organisation trusts you, and is able to articulate the values they are working towards. A good second year involves embedding some basic frameworks, and moving towards greater transparency and accountability.
This feels incredibly slow. But you need good foundations in order to grow later on. This means you won’t be perfect straight away. Someone wise once said that you always overestimate what you can do in a year, but underestimate what can be done in 10.
Having said this, make sure you do have some sort of plan, and some sort of targets. Working in ethics is an enormous privilege and by having some structures in place to understand that you’re on the right track will benefit you, and the stakeholders of the organisation.
Celebrate your wins, no matter how small they seem. If you can’t see your wins, speak with your (supportive) colleagues, and they’ll be able to point out the things that are different now compared to when you started in the role.
2. Be a master of a method
Never believe that your intuitions about ethics are better than anyone else’s. Instead, believe that you have skills and knowledge of frameworks and methods which will help you get to a quality ethical answer, faster than those who don’t have your skillset and knowledge.
There are many different methods that you can be good at. For example, methods found in psychology, decolonisation, business transformation, anthropology, philosophy, literary criticism, other social and political science, architecture and many more. Ensure that you’re able to articulate the methods where you are highly skilled, those you have a medium skill, and those you have a passing familiarity. Don’t undersell yourself but also do not overreach.
As long are you follow a method AND you publish your workings so that you can be held accountable, then you are doing the job to the best of your ability. Regularly remind your colleagues and your stakeholders that you follow a specific method, and this method helps you reach an answer in ethics. This will ensure that they don’t view you as some sort of oracle who can be ignored. Instead you are a practitioner with skills which are equal to theirs in proficiency and yet different in nature.
3. Create a network of people who can check your work
In 2024, ethicists often work alone in organisations. We report to people with different skillsets to us – perhaps in inclusion, perhaps in user experience, perhaps in legal. Therefore, it is really important that you network with those who are doing similar work to you. I would expect that you aren’t starting a network from scratch – but if you are – then look to:
a) The academic community. Go along to relevant webinars and events put on by a university departments. Sign up to relevant mailing lists. Use Google scholar to find relevant academics and email them to let them know you value their work.
b) The civil society/artistic/activist community. There are plenty of organisations working in the digital rights space. Check who’s responded to legislation. Find out who funds civil society and check to see who they support. Sign up to newsletters. Attend events. Go to galleries and exhibitions. Befriend artists. Read fiction. Support protests.
c) The professional ethicist community. I would prioritise this group last. Not that they’re not important, but if your network only comprises of others working in organisations then you’re missing a trick. This is because they’re least likely to be skilled in social science/humanities methods, and instead are adept at business transformation. Transformation is an important skill, but unless you have a clear view of what you’re transforming towards, then it’s without substance. Start with academia and civil society.
Remember – the people listed above are all very busy. They are overworked and underpaid. It’s best not to reach out cold and ask for 1:1 time immediately. Start by networking. Contribute to the community and they will begin to respond to you. (I’m speaking as someone who used to get a LinkedIn message every other day asking me for an hour of my time from people who didn’t want to attend a meetup I organised every month).
4. Prioritise your own training and education
Dedicate a portion of your week to reading about the news in ethics and compliance, and also to reading the academic papers and books on your subject matter. It’s easy to get out of touch in this field quickly, and by prioritising your own development you will make sure that you’re ahead of the curve. It’s even better if you can prioritise going to seminars, panels and talks.
Try and keep a note of these books too. Write up summaries and share them with relevant colleagues.
It’s worth noting that this whole piece has been geared towards someone who unnecessarily feels like an imposter, as opposed to people who might actually be an imposter. There’s plenty of ethics-washing in this area and we do have to be honest with ourselves about whether we’re doing things to the best of our ability, or whether our organisation is bending us to their will. It also talks about the internal anxiety of being an imposter, as opposed to managing external factors which might make you feel out of place. Maybe I’ll write about these two things another day.
Please share this post if it’s useful (because I can’t writing anonymously). And let me know if you’ve got any more tips in the comment box.