You're Not Suffering From Imposter Syndrome - You're Operating at 70%

The day I realized why this senior leader won a leadership program and I spent 16 years struggling getting recognized for everything I'd stacked up.

I was sitting across from this senior leader when it hit me. She'd just told me she felt like a fraud. She recently got promoted. Her performance review said she needed to improve her communication. She was worried sick because she had more responsibilities, bigger projects and faster turnarounds. English wasn't her first language, and she'd just been promoted to a higher leadership role with bigger projects and faster deadlines.

Classic imposter syndrome, right?

Wrong.

What I saw in that moment changed how I view every "imposter" story, including my own 16-year journey that cost me $48,000 in tuition alone to figure out.

The 100% Problem Nobody Talks About

Here's what's actually happening when you feel like an imposter:

You're trying to be 100% good at something unnatural to you, instead of being 100% great at what comes naturally.

Let me show you what I mean.

Claudia* was trying to lead like a native English speaker, operating at maybe 70% capacity and exhausting herself trying to communicate perfectly in her second language.

But when I asked her: "How did you lead back home?"

Her entire energy shifted.

"I bring people together. I build community. Everyone feels included."

THAT was her 100%.

The Recognition Moment

I guided Claudia to see what she couldn't see herself:

1. The Language Reframe

Claudia saw her English as a weakness that made her less qualified than her peers. Every meeting felt like a performance where she had to prove she belonged. She was spending hours preparing what to say, translating ideas that flowed naturally in Spanish into corporate English that felt foreign.

This constant translation was draining her energy and making her second-guess every contribution. While others spoke freely, she calculated each word. The more she tried to sound "professional," the less authentic she became. Her team wasn't getting her best ideas, nor were her clients - they were getting a watered-down versions that completely lost in translation and confused her clients.

I guided her in seeing that she spoke one more language than most people in that room. What she felt insecure about her "weakness" in English had actually forced her to develop superior non-verbal communication skills. She could read rooms, build trust without words and connect across cultural divides in ways monolingual leaders couldn't even imagine. When we reframed her multilingual ability as an asset rather than a deficit, she lit up.

2. The Community Building Recognition

Claudia thought her natural tendency to bring people together was just "being nice" - not real leadership. She'd been taught that leaders give orders, make tough decisions alone and maintain distance. Her collaborative style felt soft compared to the command-and-control leadership she saw around her.

By suppressing her natural community-building instincts, she was creating disconnected teams that worked in silos. Projects moved slowly because people weren't communicating. Innovation stalled because diverse perspectives weren't being heard. She was trying so hard to lead "properly" that she was actually making her team less effective.

We connected the dots to how her community-building was actually her natural self and that's when she recognized that was her unique leadership superpower. Since her new position demanded leading from an innovation perspective, thanks to The Roadmap, she confidently recognized for herself, how her ability to create brave spaces for everyone to feel included and bring different perspectives together, made her stand out. Her unique ability was actually the hardest skill to replicate.

3. The Team Building Strategy

Claudia believed she had to be excellent at everything to deserve her recently promoted leadership position. She was trying to compete with native speakers instead of playing to her total natural greatness. This meant working twice as hard for half the recognition.

While she exhausted herself trying to be 100% at everything, her team members' unique strengths were underutilized. She would spend so much time working on the theoretical ideas with one person who matched her similar thinking. Proud of the effort, time and work they put into it, they'd present it to the rest of the team. Shocked, the team gave them a reality check: involve other members of the team as part of the early process rather than spend time and energy trying to figure it out alone, simply because you hold a leadership title with responsibilities. That is what operating at 70% feels and looks like: she thought she was meant to do it all herself.

We connected the dots: Her team had members who were 100% at English communication. She was 100% at bringing people together. Why not bring those diverse skills together, then. When she stopped trying to lead by doing it all herself and started orchestrating their collective strengths, the entire team could innovate at 100% instead of everyone operating at 70%.

Why This Matters More Than Ever

I see this pattern everywhere:

The immigrant professional trying to network like a local (operating at 70%) instead of leveraging their global perspective to connect dots others can't see (their natural 100%).

The new mom trying to pretend she doesn't have kids in meetings (exhausting 70% performance) instead of using her newfound "mother" precision with time (her actual 100%).

The career changer hiding their previous experience like it's irrelevant (70% of their potential) instead of being the only person who can bridge two worlds (their unique 100%).

You're not an imposter. You're performing in someone else's show.

The $800,000 Invisibility Tax

When you operate at 70%, you pay a steep price. Based on 16 years of being overlooked, undervalued and underpaid, here's the real math:

• Overlooked for promotions: -$20,000/year

• Passed over for strategic projects: -$15,000/year

• Invisible in important meetings: -$10,000/year

• Undervalued in negotiations: -$5,000/year

Total: $50,000 annually in lost opportunities. Over 16 years? $800,000.

That's not counting the $48,000 tuition fees or the opportunity cost of playing small. The invisibility tax compounds daily, but recognition happens in moments - when you finally see yourself clearly.

Your Natural 100% Is Already There

That fire in your belly when you feel like a fraud? That's not anxiety. That's your natural ability screaming "Recognize me!"

Here's how to find it:

1. The Home Test

You've been away from your natural context for so long that you've forgotten what came easily to you. The skills that were obvious back home now feel irrelevant in your new environment. You've internalized the message that your past doesn't count here.

Every day you suppress these natural abilities, you lose a piece of yourself. You start believing maybe you really aren't as capable as you thought. The imposter feelings grow stronger because you're literally not being yourself. You're cosplaying as someone else's version of professional.

Ask yourself what you did naturally in your previous context. How did you lead differently? How did you solve problems uniquely? How did you connect with people in your own way? And the ultimate question: How did your family and friends saw in you? This isn't nostalgia. It's data about your inherent strengths. The ones people either: suppress you from showing, pressure you to be someone else or celebrate you for your uniqueness. When Paula remembered how naturally she brought people together as part of how she grew up back in her home country, she realized she'd been sitting on gold all along, but she ignored.

2. The Energy Audit

You push through exhaustion thinking it's just part of what it's like to be in this leadership position. No, darling, it's not! You assume everyone feels this drained at the end of the day. It's normal to always feel on all the time. You blame yourself for not having enough stamina or resilience. So, you cry or feel stressed and your health takes a toll on you.

But this exhaustion isn't normal - it's a signal you need to pay attention to. When you operate at 70%, everything takes more effort. You're translating yourself constantly, performing a role that doesn't fit you. It's like wearing shoes two sizes too small and wondering why your feet hurt. The exhaustion compounds until Sunday nights fill you with dread that tomorrow is Monday again.

Start noticing when you feel exhausted versus energized. Exhausted means you're performing at 70%. Energized means you're operating at 100%. Follow the energy - it's your body's way of showing you where your natural abilities live. Claudia realized she could facilitate innovation brainstorming ideas for hours without fatigue, but formal presentations drained her in minutes.

3. The Complement Strategy

You've been taught that admitting you're not good at something is embarrassing. So you spend enormous energy trying to improve your "weaknesses" instead of maximizing your natural strengths. You believe leadership means being good at everything.

While you're struggling to get from 70% to 75% in areas that don't come naturally, your natural 100% abilities are wasted from neglect. Meanwhile, others around you are struggling in areas where you excel. Everyone's operating below capacity because we're all trying to be carbon copies instead of complementary pieces.

Find people who are naturally 100% where you're not. Build teams and partnerships that operate at collective 100%. Claudia's team had brilliant English communicators who struggled with bringing people together. Together, they created magic.

Why Most "Solutions" Don't Work

Everyone tells you to "find confidence within" or "fake it till you make it." They leave you thinking, "Yeah, but HOW?"

You've probably tried it all:

Personal assessments like DISC that tell you your personality type but leave you still feeling like you're not enough, questioning everything about yourself. Great, you're a "D" or an "I" - but you still feel like an imposter in meetings.

Multiple coaching programs for different areas of your life - career coaching, life coaching, executive coaching. You've invested thousands but still can't get to the root of why you feel not enough. Each coach has a different framework, different advice, but none of it sticks.

Programs that give you homework and worksheets and tell you what to do, but you still feel lost. They don't understand why their generic advice isn't working for you. You need someone who gets YOUR specific situation, not a one-size-fits-all solution.

Advisors who've never lived your experience trying to help you navigate it. They mean well, but they don't understand the visa anxiety, the accent consciousness, the cultural translation you do every day. Their advice sounds good in theory but falls apart in your reality.

Like you, I went through all of the above and still couldn't crack the code. But here's what I finally understood after 16 years of searching:

The problem was never me. It was everyone else being uncomfortable with my ambitious, self-confident, magnetic self BEing my unique self.

And that's exactly what's happening with you.

You've been trying avenue after avenue, hoping each new program or coach will finally give you the answer. But they're all trying to fix you when you're not broken. They're trying to help you fit in when your power is in standing out.

I went on a 16-year journey around the world and found the answer. Now I'm giving you the roadmap so you don't waste more time and money on solutions that don't understand your real challenge.

The Recognition Roadmap

After 16 years of searching and nearly $800,000 in opportunity costs, here's what actually works:

The Preparation: Break Free from Imposter Syndrome

This isn't about positive thinking or confidence tricks. It's about a fundamental mindset shift from trying to please everyone to reflecting on what actually matters to YOU. We'll mirror back why you've been performing at 70% and help you recognize your natural 100%; don't worry it won't feel like therapy. More like having someone you find easy to talk to.

You'll finally understand why you've felt like an imposter and recognize it's because you've been acting like someone else.

The Exploration: Own How You Want to Be Remembered

Here we reflect on who you really are and how you see yourself. You'll learn to talk about your amazing accomplishments in a way that feels natural, not like bragging or performance. This is about building genuine connections and opening doors to opportunities without playing small. This isn't networking - it's strategic relationship building from your authentic self.

The Journey: Take Back Control with Manageable Steps

This is where we execute without the overwhelm or fear. No massive leaps required. Just manageable steps forward with a support system of guidance and peers who get it. We've seen people transform remarkably - from not believing in themselves to negotiating their pay, positioning themselves as leaders, getting appreciated by clients, and pivoting to careers aligned with their natural abilities. And the best part? They never go back to performing as someone they're not (Winning!).

Your Next Step

You're not suffering from imposter syndrome. You're operating at 70% capacity trying to be someone else instead of being 100% yourself. The exhaustion you feel isn't because you're not good enough - it's because you're performing in someone else's show. Your differences aren't weaknesses to overcome but strengths to leverage. And the solution isn't more generic coaching or confidence tips - it's recognition of what's already there.

The Roadmap isn't another program giving you generic advice. It's tailor-made to you because each person is unique. Your 100% looks different from Claudia's. Your edge is yours alone.

I'm not a coach who reads about your challenges in a textbook. I've got lived experience to guide you: from feeling lost searching for myself wandering across the globe, being and invisible immigrant to recognized leader reviving previously failed projects worth up to $30M. I've fallen and climbed for 11 years searching for my natural greatness, paying the visa anxiety tax, the accent consciousness fee, the cultural translation cost. I've spent 16 years and hundreds of thousands in opportunity costs figuring this out so you don't have to. Because, all of this time, it was right in front of me. And I finally made it home understanding my natural greatness was right in front me.

What cost me nearly two decades to understand, you can discover with peers at The Roadmap First Cohort on September 1st, where you'll get there in four weeks. Not months. Not years. Because you've already waited long enough. Apply to claim your spot in our Founder's Group.

Can't wait for the cohort and need it urgently because you've transitioned into a new position and prefer one-on-one for more personalization? Contact me, Junie at hello@propelinnovations to book a call and get you started.

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*Not actual name