Maninder Randhawa (HPE) - Dealing with imposter syndrome

05/15/23 • 46 min

Most of my interviews for this podcast are with subject matter experts, or inspirational individuals sharing their stories, and I have loads more of these lined up as well, but for the next few episodes I have a something slightly different.

Through my presenting and coaching work I get to speak to many really interesting people, many of whom are already doing some aspect of wellbeing and performance really well.

It’s like they’ve cracked part of the code and gained some crucial insights that have helped them through a successful career, and after one of these conversations I thought to myself, ‘I wish I’d recorded that it would have made an awesome episode for the podcast!’

So I’ve managed to pin a few of them down to do just that - talk about some aspect of wellbeing and performance, and share their approach, experiences or insights in a way that we can all learn from.

Today’s episode is the first of this series, and I get to speak to Maninder Randhawa, the UK, Ireland, Middle East & Africa Early Careers Leader at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, about a topic that’s come up a few times in the sessions he’s been on where I’ve been presenting - Imposter Syndrome.

He shares his own experiences and understanding of what it is, how it’s held him back in the past and how - even though it’s still present for him - he’s learned to manage it more effectively.

We talk about:

Comparing ourselves with other people

Why it's important to focus on our own unique skills beyond our technical expertise

How to build the mindset where you anticipate and embrace imposter syndrome

Why imposter syndrome is an indication of learning opportunities

The importance of a coach or mentor

Identifying a tendency to focus on the negatives and ignore the positive

Mindset strategies to counter holding back

This is a conversation that I know many people will relate to and I’ve had my own experiences with it as well, and if you would like to connect with Mani you can find him here on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maninder-randhawa-88179552

Through my presenting and coaching work I get to speak to many really interesting people, many of whom are already doing some aspect of wellbeing and performance really well.

He shares his own experiences and understanding of what it is, how it’s held him back in the past and how - even though it’s still present for him - he’s learned to manage it more effectively.

We talk about:

Comparing ourselves with other people

Why it's important to focus on our own unique skills beyond our technical expertise

How to build the mindset where you anticipate and embrace imposter syndrome

Why imposter syndrome is an indication of learning opportunities

The importance of a coach or mentor

Identifying a tendency to focus on the negatives and ignore the positive

Mindset strategies to counter holding back

This is a conversation that I know many people will relate to and I’ve had my own experiences with it as well, and if you would like to connect with Mani you can find him here on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maninder-randhawa-88179552

Previous Episode

Takeaways from last 16 interviews

Ahead of moving into a series of interviews with professionals where I'll be attempting to extract how they're 'doing' wellbeing and performance in their every day lives, I wanted to hit pause and reflect on the last 16 interviews I've done so far this year.

One of the best things about running a podcast is the guests I get to meet and speak to as a part of the show.

I always end up learning something personally from these conversations and in this episode I summarise what some of those lessons or reminders have been.

Next Episode

Artem Seledtsov (Exness) - Wellbeing & Mindset for Performance

I’m joined today by the chief business development officer at Exness, Artem Seledtsov who I met during a wellness consultation as part of the Senior Executive Program at the London Business School.

As we spoke that day it soon became clear that he already had a number of high performance wellbeing habits and in our conversation today he shares what some of them are.

Arty also talks about what life was like for him in his 20s when he was out of shape and struggling with his weight, and the pressure of conforming to a corporate culture that had a very narrow view of what success looked like.

Now, as an advocate for wellbeing and a true example of how to combine healthy habits with a high-pressure role he walks us through a typical day and some of the non-negotiable features that enable him to perform at a consistently high level.

His approach to switching off at the end of the day, scheduling in time for himself during the day including exercise and eating, and defending his time in a way that boosts his effectiveness and productivity.

Arty shares how he started the process of making these changes 12 years ago, some of the challenges he faced and how he overcame them.

And with a team of 350 people, we talk about his approach to motivation, mindset and leadership, in the context of managing a remote workforce spread across the globe.

Connect with Arty via LinkedIn here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/artemseledtsov