We recently connected with Alan Steelman and have shared our conversation below.
Alan , first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
I had decided early in life that becoming President of the United States was my goal. I did many things in preparation once I got to college. I majored in political science, ran and got elected to a number of student offices, including, class president, student congress, fraternity president, board of publications. I wanted to get acclimated to approaching strangers for their vote and support, dealing with rejection, dealing with negative things said about me—all the things that must be dealt with once a candidate for election in the adult world. Seven years out of Baylor University, at the age of 29, I “jumped into the deep water”, ran and was elected to the United States Congress from Texas, the youngest at the time.
There’s an adage about newly elected members, who look around at all their “impressive” colleagues and think to themselves for the first six months, “how did I ever get here?”, then for the rest of the time, “How did they ever get here”. That was also my experience. As I began receiving a number of higlly complimentary and flattering profiles and articles on my work, “one of 200 emerging young leaders in the United States” (Time magazine), “One of best ever sent to Congress from Texas” (Dallas Times Herald), “One of most effective in Texas delegation” (Texas Monthly). etc.
I was very pleased and proud of all this, yet, in my private moments, all my self-limiting beliefs haunted me. It has been said that none of us ever get out of high school, referring to those teen years when our successes and failures get hardwired into our psyche, and last a lifetime. Even with my own baggage from my teen years, I was adept at “faking it, ’til you make it” As I began to more acutely observe my colleagues, I could tell that I was not the only one, hence, “how did they ever get here”?
Even with my own internal doubts, I continued with my plans toward my ultimate goal. I had benchmarked the careers of former presidents, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, all of whom had gotten elected to congress in their early thirties, then running statewide, getting elected and using that as the springboard to the top job. Being from one of the large states, Texas, Florida or California, almost guarantees anyone elected statewide a strong platform from which to pursue the presidency. U.S. Senate races only come up once every six years, so into the “deep water” again at age 34 to run against incumbent Senator Lloyd Bentsen statewide in Texas. The state was heavily Democratic
then, unlike today. President Gerald Ford, running for re-election and I both lost statewide.
Feeling overboard and “out to sea” at such a young age, I had a lot of reflection time and self-doubt to weigh and consider. Once I found a new career with Alexander Proudfoot, a global management consulting company, gaining the confidence of clients, getting promoted to President of the Asia-Pacific region, based in Singapore, etc. my imposter syndrome dissipated over time. With the benefit of time and distance, I began to see and believe that I was worthy of the p[audits, I had been so privately insecure about. Imposter Syndrome is real, is widespread and can be a real impediment to one’s life and career. I’m not sure that it ever disappears in one “aha” moment, but, only one time as one’s life experience brings the wisdom that only the years can bring.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m on my third career now as a writer and poet. My first two, politics and business were very rewarding and much of what I write about now comes from that life experience, including the wins, losses, joy, grief, etc. My first book, Yoga on the Yellow Brick Road, used the Wizard of Oz story as a way to illustrate that we are endowed with all the natural tools we need to cope with the unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety that we all have to deal with today., without health and life-destroying substances. This one made the best-seller designation in several categories on Amazon. My second book. Managing Your Monkey, Mind Fitness refers to the “monkey mind”, the inner-critic, “the squirrel cage” of unrelenting mind chatter”, and self-limiting beliefs that we all have to deal with in life.
My third, Footprints in the Sand, A Life Journey, due for publication later this year, is a book of poetry.
There are sixty poems, organized in sections of nature therapy, life, animals, whimsy, home. I have undertaken an ambitious mission with this one. Poetry, as an art form, has virtually disappeared from the reading of the average person. Poets seem to be writing for the approval of other poets and those in the academic community. Rather than writing about topics and in language that is easily understood. All the creative word-crafting loses the average reader. From the host of the podcast, “Poetry for All”, Professor Abram Van Engen of Washington University says, “most folks don’t read poetry because they don’t see it written for them, or they don’t understand it.”
All sixty of the poems in this collection are on topics from the lives we are all living, and in easily understood language. I am hopeful that this might be one small step back from all the complexity that has brought us to this point. My life has been impacted by the poems of Robert Frost, Robert Burns, William Wordsworth, Maya Angelou, William Butler Yeats, et al. Poetry is the language of the heart, it is said, and can “make life bearable”. There is a lot to bear up under today, and we could all use some help in this area.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Simple adages that I discovered along the way, made mental notes of and call on at critical times have been invaluable –When tempted to follow the crowd, don’t! Instead be a flamingo in a flock of pigeons. The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost makes the same point, “A path diverged in the yellow wood. I could not take both. I took the one less traveled, and it has made all the difference. Peer pressure and follow the crowd are career killers and joy-in-life killers.
–Make your plan, work your plan, and execute with discipline. One of our greatest failings is having dreams and aspirations and losing the drive to follow through with the discipline necessary to achieve them.
–The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Alway have a plan B. “Man plans and God laughs”, the saying goes. Adapt and adjust, all success requires this.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
Unconditional love from my mom and dad, something I took for granted for so many years. As a teenager and for years later, i assumed everyones grew up in the same type of household. My parents were both carrying a heavy load. It was a blue-collar household with constant financial challenges, my brother’s bi-polar condition, later resulting in suicide. Even when my behavior deserved commentary and discipline, I received the discipline, but, never anything verbal or physical that challenged my self-esteem or value as a human being.
As time has passed, and more and more open up about their lives at home, there are so many where abuse, both verbal and otherwise so affected their self-esteem and self-image that they carry it with them for a lifetime. Additionally, since that’s how they grew up, they become abusive parents.
Contact Info:
- Website:alansteelman.net
- Facebook: Alan Steelman
- Linkedin: Alan Steelman
- Youtube: alansteelman
Image Credits
All photos are mine. Also, I didn’t crop several of them. If they are as they appear within this questionnaire, please advise and I will crop them and resend.
