How a Superstar Athlete can Feel Like an Impostor
This post contains edited excerpts from COMPOSURE: The Art of Executive Presence, available now wherever books are sold. Order your copy today!
Naomi Osaka is an incredibly talented, widely respected, and heavily decorated athlete. Her accomplishments speak for themselves: Four-time Grand Slam champion, 2020 Associated Press Athlete of the Year, first-ever Asian woman ranked #1 in the world… the list goes on. So it’s astonishing to discover that Osaka, someone who has such incredible talent and has achieved such unprecedented success, feels like an impostor.
Listen to Naomi Osaka: The Icon and the Impostor — The COMPOSURE Podcast ➞
It may come as a surprise, but our research shows that people possessing talent akin to Osaka’s are often most prone to Impostor Syndrome. As children, being gifted frequently accompanies an expectation of achievement and a reliance on the adulation that follows. When gifted children become dependent on that attention, love, and adoration, they begin to equate their self-worth with the things they do, rather than who they are.
This cycle is self-perpetuating, only worsening as the child grows into adulthood and achieves more and more success. What results is a dangerous dependence on external sources of validation, and a persistent and crippling fear of failure. What does it mean to fail? For many people, failure is simply an opportunity to grow and learn. But for an impostor? Failure becomes a crippling identity crisis, a threatening loss of the sense of self.
The makings of Osaka the Impostor
Osaka was open and vulnerable in August about her struggles with Impostor Syndrome. Her statement was wide-ranging, outlining some of the thoughts that drive her Impostor Behaviors, along with the advice she’s giving herself as she navigates her own breakthrough. Here’s the statement in full:
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) August 29, 2021
A few lines stand out based on how closely they align with the framework for overcoming reactive Impostor Behaviors that we introduce in our book, COMPOSURE: The Art of Executive Presence. Of the five fingerprint Impostor Behaviors, Osaka’s decision to opt out of press conferences reveals her rejection sensitivity — reactivity to criticism and judgment from an insensitive press when interviewed after a failed match. Let’s be honest — this would be difficult to tolerate for even the most stoic among us. And, to her point, why do we demand that our beloved athletes endure such treatment from the press?
Osaka’s statement on Twitter most prominently hits on three other Impostor Behaviors -- perfectionism, depressed entitlement, and lack of confidence.
Osaka is a perfectionist
In certain contexts, like business or academics, success and achievement are notoriously hard to measure. In sports, though, it’s a different story. Osaka has been ranked #1 in the world in her sport — quite literally meaning that no one else in the world was better than her at her chosen profession. So it’s especially striking to see Osaka admit that “internally [she] never thinks [she’s] good enough.” As we’ve written before, Osaka is a prime example of an impostor whose perfectionism is driven by two deeply held beliefs: failure is not an option, and “good enough” is never enough.
Osaka has a depressed sense of entitlement
“My first thought is, “wow, why me?””
To which most of us would say, “because you’re Naomi freakin’ Osaka!” As an outsider, it’s easy to recognize talent and find inspiration in others’ success. Fans of Osaka see her awards pouring in and never question her deservingness.
But clearly Osaka has not allowed her success to land, nor does she feel worthy of that success. It’s likely that this dynamic is exacerbated by the fact that, as a half Black, half Asian woman in a mostly white sport, Osaka has lived her whole tennis career as a part of the “out group.” Members of “out groups” in any context frequently feel depressed entitlement, a lack of deservingness which is far more acute than what those in the “in group” tend to feel. Often unconsciously, they believe they deserve less recognition, less compensation, and less opportunity. Even (or perhaps especially) in the most elite company, “out group” impostors feel like they don’t belong.
Osaka lacks self-confidence
No matter how stellar of a resume they may boast, impostors struggle to feel confident enough to face that next, even more daunting challenge. Osaka’s note makes it clear that she is no exception. “I’ve never told myself that I’ve done a good job,” she wrote, “but I do know I constantly tell myself that I suck or I could do better.”
The impostor sees themselves in an extraordinarily different light than others see themselves. And, ironically, the belief that they are not “good enough” is a well worn strategy that has fueled their success. They never consider asking when enough is enough, because deep down they believe that they can only succeed when they work harder and longer than everyone else.
However, it’s important to note that a lack of confidence (along with all other Impostor Behaviors) can be triggered situationally. Some people report feeling very confident except in contexts where they step into a new environment or when they’re in a high-pressure situation. For example, Osaka may feel confident in early tournament rounds while playing less challenging competitors, but not in later rounds when the competition is fierce. And not, as we see, when facing the press after a painful loss.
How Osaka is breaking through
Osaka’s statement wasn’t only about her triggers and limiting beliefs, though. She also offered some advice to her followers, urging them to combat feelings of self-doubt and lack of confidence. Many of her ideas align closely with the COMPOSURE framework.
“I’ve been reflecting over this past year… Recently I’ve been asking myself why do I feel the way I do?”
The first step to overcoming Impostor Behaviors is awareness. This involves becoming aware of what Impostor Behaviors are, and which ones might affect you. You can take our free Impostor Breakthrough Assessment to better understand how Impostor Syndrome may affect you.
So many of the individuals we work with in groups and corporate team programs comment on the power of awareness — it’s powerful to realize that they’re not alone. In these programs, participants share with others how Impostor Behaviors affect them in their work and personal lives. They are amazed to learn that these behaviors are not unique to them, but are in fact commonplace. Even those who seem to be the most confident, capable, and self-assured admit to suffering from Impostor Syndrome. And that’s a relief.
“I’m gonna try to celebrate myself and my accomplishments more, I think we all should.”
When we hear “celebrate myself,” we equate that with being self-compassionate and practicing self-care. Being kind to ourselves, both when we meet expectations and when we don’t, lives at the core of self compassion — even when those expectations aren’t our own. Self-compassion comes when we internalize the belief that we’re human, and that part of being human is to make mistakes and fail, both of which lead to learning and personal growth.
“I know I give my heart to everything I can and if that’s not good enough for some then my apologies but I can’t burden myself with those expectations anymore… Your life is your own and you shouldn’t value yourself on other people’s standards.”
People with Impostor Syndrome are inordinately vulnerable because they only feel worthy and safe when they gain approval from others. Even with maximum effort, a failure to meet external expectations and garner the approval of others can be crushing.
This dynamic manifests most frequently because impostors tend to actually be high achievers who are exceptionally adept at garnering positive feedback and avoiding criticism and failure. Impostors can even be so sensitive to negative feedback to the extent that they won’t try new things because they fear they won’t immediately excel.
A key part of the work behind COMPOSURE is separating out what you expect from yourself and believe to be true about yourself, from the expectations and beliefs of others. In our work with clients, when high-pressure situations carry undue stress, what they’re often worried about is not necessarily that their work will fail — they worry more about being asked a question they can’t answer or receiving any level of criticism or judgement about their work.
But here’s the thing: when we ask them how they really feel about their own work, their whole outlook shifts. When they shift their focus on the internal — what they believe to be true, ignoring anything external — they discover that they are actually confident in, and proud of, the work they’ve done and how they’ve prepared. They realize that their fear lies in external dynamics that are out of their control.
Once they become aware and internalize that they’re proud and prepared, they become open and receptive to questions and feedback without being triggered. They learn to observe this feedback as if from a perspective outside of themselves rather than automatically internalizing those comments as indictments on their own abilities, intelligence, or competence. In doing so, they develop strong boundaries, and their motivational strategies shift. The more badass your boundaries, the more capable you are of practicing self-compassion and feeling self-confident.
The COMPOSURE effect: How to build off of Osaka’s advice
While Impostor Behaviors are quite complex, the process for breaking through and finding your composure is relatively straightforward. Our process is broken down into three stages:
Awareness
Resolution
Transformation
Osaka’s Awareness came in asking herself “why do I feel the way that I do?” This led her to seek help, which led her to Resolution. Here, Osaka’s insights closely mirror the process we outline in COMPOSURE.
For those with acute Impostor Behaviors, it’s not like you can flip a switch overnight and completely alter your deep-seated, impostor-driven motivational strategies. Just like you can’t “lean in” safely when you don’t feel confident, you can’t simply will yourself into celebrating yourself and your accomplishments when you feel like a failure when judged by other people’s standards. Those changes must come from the inside out.
What’s required is an investment to build awareness by identifying your Impostor Behaviors, to strengthen your personal boundaries, and over time diminish the safety patterning that causes your reactive behaviors.
What we would add to Osaka’s advice: be patient and kind with yourself as you tread through the waters from awareness toward resolution and transformation.
What awaits you on the other side is a life of empathy for yourself and for others, empowered by badass boundaries that allow you to approach situations more clearly and become more true to yourself and less concerned about external pressures. Within your transformation comes a realization of where your values intersect with the world.
From there, you start to gravitate naturally toward things that bring your life more meaning. Serendipity and coincidence start showing up with more frequency, bringing lightness and purpose to your life — and that’s when the magic happens.
Kate Purmal is a former CEO and Technology Executive, Board Director, Business Advisor and Executive Coach. She is also a Senior Industry Research Fellow at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business and a lecturer at University of Michigan Ross School of Business. She is the author of two books: COMPOSURE: The Art of Executive Presence and THE MOONSHOT EFFECT: Disrupting Business as Usual.
