Be Professionally Prepared in the Era of the Impostor

A challenging moment was approaching in his life.

Professionally, he was about to be interviewed by the American Congress on a number of very difficult subjects. He was Admiral American Hyman Rickover.

Legend has it that an American Congressman asked the Admiral:

“How did you prepare for the interview?”

And the Admiral replied:

“I shaved and put on a new shirt!”

The answer may seem superficial. In fact, it’s about a deeply profound philosophy of “preparation.”

Admiral Rickover was already prepared because he knew his job inside out, knew everything that was happening in his department and lived and breathed what he did. He didn’t need to prepare specially for an event like this.

Hyman Rickover is known for personally interviewing over 10,000 people for the “nuclear navy.” He believed he had to carefully select every person who would work for him, so in interviews, he often tested their character and how they reacted under pressure.

There were times when he would put candidates in chairs with shorter front legs just to see how they handled the interview while being uncomfortable and continuously slipping under the table.

A famous interview was the one where the Admiral told the candidate:

“If you manage to make me angry, you’re hired!”

And that candidate, after looking around the room for a few seconds, laid his eyes on an incredibly detailed ship model on the desk. After all, he was in the Navy, right? The candidate grabbed the model and smashed it on the floor. The Admiral hired him.

In other situations, he preferred to conduct interviews at a restaurant to observe candidates in a different environment than the classic office.

“I had someone who, after receiving the food, salted and peppered it before tasting. I didn’t accept him,” he would say.

When he wanted to give someone a second chance, he would lock them in a closet for 2–3 hours to think about what they did wrong and how to present themselves better.

The example of preparation proposed, at a philosophical level, by Hyman Rickover is one that comes through immersion and constant exposure. He controlled his field, profession, and reality so well that he was prepared.

He also said:

“The sense of responsibility in a profession seems to be declining. The reply ‘I’m not responsible’ has become a standard response in our society. Often when you complain about something.” — Hyman Rickover

This response is a semantic error.

The person is actually saying that they cannot be held legally responsible. However, from a moral and ethical standpoint, the one who declines responsibility is right — when they say they are not responsible, they are, in fact, irresponsible.”

What does it mean to be prepared?

Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, said:

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail!”

The idea of “preparation” seems to vary from case to case. The real question is, “When do you know you are prepared?”

The natural answer that comes to mind is “When you get what you want!”

A good answer related to the responsibility Rickover talks about is:

“When you know you’ve given your best, regardless of the result!”

In this way, you allow yourself to fail and learn from failures. To expose yourself.

In “The Art of War,” written by the Chinese general Sun Tzu, there is a passage that goes as follows:

“The battle is already won the moment you step onto the battlefield.”

This is the definition of immersion in what you do if you think about it.

You are at your maximum potential, as an identity, in preparation, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

In the same book, on preparation, it says:

“He trains with the intensity of a real war. That’s why, when he’s in battle, the war itself doesn’t scare him or stop him from winning.”-Sun Tzu

The image is of someone who lives in the “war” reality every day, so there is no need for prior preparation for this war. This war is a continuation of the existence you had before it. Because you are a warrior, and warriors do this. They fight in wars.

From my point of view, the quote above is also the definition of “immersion” in what you do.

Don’t forget that “war” is, in this case, a metaphor. (I mention this for the more sensitive among us who take my words literally).

In conclusion, I will end with a few words from Emperor Marcus Aurelius, because he explains better than I do what it means to be prepared through immersion and constant exposure.

“Be a boxer, not a swordsman.

The swordsman has to put on his armor and choose his weapon before a duel. Then he puts them down.

The boxer’s weapon is part of him. All he has to do is raise his fists.”

The above quote is expressed from a stoic perspective.

In the times we live in, where we carry masks with us, where we play roles, where we “pretend” depending on the context to achieve our goals, perhaps we should take this whole story to the next level.

Let’s leave the armor and swords and raise our fists.

Instead of being the roles, maybe we should be ourselves, and we will know how to prepare. Without haste, without superficiality, without this “impostor syndrome” so present in our current world.

Because when you rush, you’re already too late. When you look for your weapons, shield, and armor, when you’re already in crisis, you’ve already lost the battle.