Tackling anxiety in the workplace

Shropshire business people struggling with their confidence in the workplace will have the chance to learn useful coping techniques on a new training course.

Shropshire Chamber of Commerce is running its first ever ‘Working With Imposter Syndrome’ session at its Telford office on April 17. Booking is now open through the training section on the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce website – www.shropshire-chamber.co.uk.

Training and development facilitator Alex Brown said the half-day event would run from 9.30am to 12pm, with another planned for later in the year.

“Imposter syndrome is more common than many people realise – it’s feeling like a fake in the workplace despite any genuine success that you have actually achieved,” he said.

“It’s extremely frustrating because it can hold colleagues back as they’re constantly filled with self-doubt, even in areas of the business where they excel. So we’ve launched our new course to help people recognise, understand, and effectively cope with imposter syndrome.

“The session will include interactive elements which will help with self-reflection, and we aim to offer delegates key take aways that they can use in the workplace. We’ll be focussing on confidence boosting techniques and sharing useful coping strategies that could make a real difference to a large number of people.”

A recent report suggests that more than two thirds of business people will have suffered from imposter syndrome at some point in their working lives – whether they realise it, or not.

Alex said the session was also designed to help people identify colleagues who may be struggling.

“It’s a feeling of nervousness and the constant fear that you’ll be ‘found out’, as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression. And yet, people with imposter syndrome are usually highly successful people who have no reason to feel like an imposter, but they still do.

“We hope our course shines a light on this difficult condition and helps anyone struggling to realise they are not alone.”

To sign up for the course, see www.shropshire-chamber.co.uk/business-training/training-calendar/working-with-imposter-syndrome-training-course