Are you an Imposter?: Identifying and Coping with Imposter Syndrome

By Marly DiFruscio

"I don't belong here."

"I'm not a strong enough leader for this promotion."

"Did they make a mistake?"

"What if they realize I'm not as smart as they think I am?"

How often do you find yourself thinking thoughts along those lines? If it's pretty frequent, you're truly not alone. Research shows that up to 82% of people have reported they have felt like an imposter at some point in their lives. The phenomenon of doubting yourself, your success, and/or feeling like a fraud is called "imposter syndrome" or "imposter phenomenon". It's a psychological pattern in which a person doubts their skills, intelligence, talents, or accomplishments and feels as if they are inferior or fraudulent in their roles, whether it's at work, school, or at home.

It is stunning the degree to which highly accomplished leaders frequently struggle with feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, low self-confidence, and confusion about how they reached the high levels they've achieved. Leaders in this scenario, either experiencing imposter syndrome or with direct reports who are experiencing it, can pose a risk to the organization as a whole. Imposter syndrome can force an inability to realistically assess competence and skills, can sabotage success, and set unrealistic goals that can't be surpassed. Imposter syndrome can paralyze even the most talented C-Suite execs and cause them to be ineffective and incompetent. This slashes their personal impact with poor decision making, mood swings, procrastination, and at large, a drop in morale, relationships, and team confidence. Critically this is where imposter syndrome starts to eat away at the organization and dampens innovation

Many of these characteristics can get in the way of further success of leaders and organizations as a whole. However, I want to make a clear distinction: Imposter syndrome is the domain of the high achiever. Leaders who set the bar low are rarely victims of imposter syndrome. So if this conversation is speaking to you, take a moment and appreciate yourself as someone who strives and works to excel. 

As a leader, there are ways to shift your mindset or help your reports that are dealing with imposter syndrome. It's all about realizing that as a high achiever you are worthy of the value you have and provide. To get past impostor syndrome, you need to start asking yourself some hard questions. What core beliefs do you hold about yourself? Do you believe you must be perfect for others to approve of you? Beyond that, you can also make distinct efforts to shut down the saboteur in your head that is perpetuating the imposter syndrome. 

1. Share your feelings and talk to others. Talk to someone who can help, whether this is a mentor, therapist, trusted leader, friend, etc. Talk to other people about how you are feeling about yourself and your accomplishments. Irrational beliefs tend to fester when they are hidden and not talked about.

2. Internalize your success. You didn't just get lucky! Focus on the value you bring to the table; on giving your best, not being the best. Remember what it is you do well and recognize your expertise.

3. Refrain missteps. Mistakes and errors are about building proficiency and growing into your potential. Realize that no one is perfect and resilience in the face of error only goes to improve your skills as a leader.

4. Take small steps. Don't focus on doing the large project perfectly. Instead, take small pieces, do reasonably well on those pieces, and reward yourself for taking action. Regularly stop and celebrate the small wins you have. These are positive affirmations that will carry you into feeling and knowing your value.

5. Don't minimize yourself internally or externally. Instead of fighting the feelings of not belonging, lean into them and acknowledge them. It's only once you've understood them that you can start unraveling the core beliefs that are holding you back. When someone compliments you, instead of saying things like "I try" or thinking you don't deserve them, say "Thank you." 

As we've acknowledged, imposter syndrome can also present itself in your team. Our contributions as leaders are pivotal. You want to lead by example, by exemplifying the behaviors above to deal with your imposter syndrome, but what are some of the ways leaders can lessen the experience of imposter syndrome for their team? It starts with attentiveness, an eye on building a psychologically safe environment that fosters a sense of belonging and deserved expertise. Some specific actions to consider include:

1. Change the language employees use to describe themselves/their work. Certain words and descriptors such as "perfect", "absolute" "flawless" will perpetuate imposter syndrome amongst an organization. Adjust the perspective to the value people and their work brings, and make it a safe place to discuss mistakes and errors openly.

2. Be a supportive performance manager and lead with empathy. Listening to your team with human-centered curiosity and lead from a place of empathy. Keep the lines of communication open for your team and look for new ways to strengthen the relationships with those on your team.

3. Ensuring your employees feel valued, fairly rewarded, and appreciated. Acknowledgment goes a long way. Employees should feel like their thoughts and inputs are appreciated and respected. Enthusiasm is catching – in yourself and in others. Fully empowered employees make good decisions, resolve problems, and feel more sure of themselves and their work.

4. Promoting collaboration, vulnerability, and feedback in company culture. Teams with leaders who embrace their vulnerability (instead of pretending to be all-knowing) quickly learn that failure doesn't have to sting and linger. It also gives the team the chance to work collaboratively, reducing risk, and increasing exposure to everyone's value on the team. Empowering teams through the use of feedback makes sure expectations are understood, which helps reduce unnecessary self-doubt among individual contributors.

5. Create a combined learning and coaching culture. Skill training is often offered throughout teams but coaching and leadership development deserve the same recognition. This is because research has shown that whilst training new skills can deliver 22% improvement, combining it with coaching impacts every part of the organization and delivers 88% uplift. It erodes the fear of not knowing, allows for mistakes and failure, facilitates creativity, and releases innovation.

Whether you are experiencing imposter syndrome yourself or as a leader of a team, it is important to you, your career success, and your organization to take a deep breath and start working on some small steps to give this mindset the boot. Impostor syndrome might be an individual issue, but combating it effectively is a team effort. Even making small changes in how you approach day-to-day experiences can make all the difference. The faster it's out the door, the sooner you'll help your people achieve more, feel less stressed, and make tremendous progress.