Vanessa Van Edwards argues that real competence means knowing what you're good at and what you're not. She calls this "expert power": showing off your proven strengths while openly admitting gaps instead of faking mastery. Asking for help isn't weakness, it's the opposite of imposter syndrome.
Competence is not knowing everything, and this is the curse of smart people. Competence is knowing what you know and also knowing what you don't know. What do I know and know well? Honing it. I call that expert power. Make sure people know that that is your expert power. It should be known. Then know what you don't know and own it. Label it. Don't fake it. Don't pretend. We love competent people who are like, this is my skill set and I need help with this. We love people who ask for advice. And I think that we undervalue that skillset. It is not a sign of incompetence. It's a sign of competence. So what I would say is you can fight imposter syndrome with knowing what you know, and then celebrating what you don't too.
