Do you ever feel as though you are undeserving or incapable of your achievements, think that you are a “fraud,” and/or get a feeling that one day others will “find you out?” If you relate to these thoughts, you may be struggling with the phenomenon known as Imposter Syndrome. Imposter Syndrome is not a diagnosis but a description of a common experience. Imposter Syndrome typically contrasts how you view or think of yourself versus how others see you. People who struggle with this usually feel unworthy and have difficulty giving themselves the recognition they deserve. They often have a lot of self-doubt and insecurity about their abilities and attribute their successes to mere luck or happenstance. Imposter syndrome can occur in all areas of your life. However, it very commonly occurs in the workplace. Common imposter syndrome thoughts in the workplace include: “I am not as smart as all of these people”, “If I ask questions everyone will find out I have no idea what I am doing”, “I do not belong here like everyone else”, “I do not have the capability to be in this position.” People struggling with this often do not feel competent enough to be in their positions, and research has found that people’s experience with imposter syndrome has a lot to do with how they define what it means to be “competent” (Young, 2022). Dr. Valerie Young’s research displayed the five common types of Imposter Syndrome:
The “Perfectionist”: This type of imposter syndrome results from focusing on one’s actions, being overly critical, and overgeneralizing things to mean complete failure if anything goes wrong.
The “Expert”: This type of imposter syndrome involves expecting oneself to know everything and focusing on what and how much one knows and can do. The person may overresearch and overeducate themselves on every possible detail of their assignments and assume failure if they cannot answer something or come across new information they were unaware of.
– The “Soloist”: This type of imposter syndrome focuses on who completes the task, and those struggling with this mindset feel ashamed or like an “imposter” if they need help or cannot handle things alone.
– The “Natural Genius”: This type of impostor syndrome looks at competence in terms of ease and speed. These individuals feel they should automatically be experts on everything and pick up new information immediately with minimal effort or struggle. If they cannot do so, this results in feelings of failure or shame.
The “Superhuman”: This type of imposter syndrome examines competence in how many different roles one can take on and succeed in. People with this syndrome tend to overexert themselves and still expect more from themselves. If they cannot easily handle all of their various life roles, they feel like they are failing.
Below are 10 tips on how to confront your Impostor Syndrome in the workplace:
1. Acknowledge it and Call it Out: The first step is to recognize that your thoughts and feelings are coming from a place of Imposter Syndrome. While it does not always feel good to acknowledge that we may have these thoughts about ourselves, being honest about it and acknowledging it allows you to work on changing them.
2. Normalize It and Talk About It: Imposter syndrome is very common, and it can be beneficial to find close colleagues either in the workplace or friends outside of the workplace to confide in and open up to. You might be surprised to find how others around you are struggling with similar thoughts. Oftentimes, it is easier to see how the imposter syndrome thoughts lack validity when you hear it coming from others, which may, in turn, help you to identify your own thoughts as inaccurate. Opening up to others can normalize these feelings and help reduce their weight by not holding them in and getting support. It can also be helpful to seek out a mentor who can give advice and feedback. It should be someone you respect and can be open with, and chances are, when you open up to them, you will be surprised to realize they have had very similar thoughts and struggles in the past or even currently.
3. Explore where it is coming from and what is contributing to it: Imposter syndrome can stem from various places. Core beliefs from childhood about incompetence, worthlessness, or perfectionism can contribute to the development of Imposter Syndrome. For example, if a lot of pressure was placed on you as a child, you were made to feel as though you were never doing enough, or were often told you were wrong or incompetent. Additionally, low self-esteem or self-worth in general can contribute to these feelings. Negative past experiences in the workplace could also contribute to this, especially if they were early on in your career development. Identity can also play a significant role in the development of imposter syndrome, as well as marginalized ethnic identities, races, genders, sexual orientations, and religions are often made to feel as though they do not belong in certain work settings due to underrepresentation and bias. Exploring your past experiences and work environment to understand better what may trigger the imposter syndrome thoughts is important.
4. Identify Cognitive Distortions and Unhelpful Thinking Patterns: Once you identify past experiences, deeper thoughts, and beliefs contributing to the imposter syndrome, you can then work to challenge and restructure your thoughts to make them more helpful, productive, and accurate. It starts with beginning to recognize the imposter thoughts for what they are. For example, if you go into a work meeting and think, “I don’t deserve to be here, everyone is going to find out I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m going to look so stupid.” The first step is to acknowledge that even though this thought feels true to you, it is not actually rooted in reality and stems from imposter syndrome. Call this out for yourself and then look for the evidence for and against these statements and identify what distorted thinking patterns may be present. Then, practice replacing your thought with a more neutral statement backed by evidence. For example: “I’m understandably nervous going into this meeting, but I am in this role for a reason. I am well prepared, I have gotten through difficult work meetings before and it always ends up fine. If for some reason it does not go well, I will still get through it.”
5. Recognize How These Thoughts are Hurting Rather Than Helping You: Most behaviors serve some function, which is true of imposter syndrome. People sometimes think that being hard on themselves pushes them to work harder or do better in their job. Additionally, whether it is conscious or not, this thinking may protect them from the pain of potential criticism or rejection so that if they do get negative feedback in the workplace, then they can rationalize to themself that they knew they were not competent enough for the job at hand all along. While this might make sense on some level, it is also important to dig deep and truthfully examine how these imposter syndrome thoughts negatively impact you. How does imposter syndrome impact your thoughts, feelings, and therefore your behavior in the workplace? If you are so critical of yourself and engaging in such negative self-talk, this will likely result in feelings of anxiety, inadequacy, fear, and self-consciousness. A self-fulfilling prophecy could likely occur if we act out of these emotions. You may be coming off as less confident, questioning yourself, making more mistakes because your thoughts are clouded, and hesitating to speak up about new ideas that could be really valuable. I encourage people to list the pros and cons of the imposter syndrome to examine how much it is helping you vs. hurting you.
6. Remind yourself of your Skills and Achievements: To combat these imposter syndrome thoughts, it is important to remember how you got to where you are in the first place and then continue reminding yourself of why you are here. I encourage you to list the skills, qualities, qualifications, and achievements throughout your education and career path that have helped you get to where you are. Reflect and allow yourself the space to be proud. Remind yourself that all those things did not just occur by chance, and think back to all the hard work you put in. Then, create a folder, either physical or on a computer, to keep track of ongoing accomplishments, positive outcomes, praise, or effort you put in that contribute to your ongoing and future performance and success. When you have moments of self-doubt, return to this list and folder to remind yourself how you got to where you are. It can also be helpful to write a letter to your younger self with advice you would give that version of you. The imposter syndrome was most likely always present, and sometimes, thinking back to where you started helps you recognize how far you have truly come and what you may be overlooking.
7. Have a Growth Mindset: A “growth mindset” is the belief that one’s capabilities can be improved through effort, determination, and learning (Dweck, 2006). It is usually compared to a “fixed mindset” in which people believe talent and knowledge are inflexible and innate. Those with a growth mindset can persist even when faced with obstacles, view constructive criticism as a path to growth, and believe they have the power to cultivate their success, talent, and knowledge. People with a “fixed mindset” often give up easily, ignore feedback, avoid challenges, and compare themselves to others. Those who struggle with imposter syndrome often have “fixed mindset” beliefs and could benefit from adopting more of the “growth mindset” mentality.
8. Normalize Mistakes and Practice Self-Compassion: Usually, we are the hardest on ourselves and typically would not talk to others in the ways we speak to ourselves. Recognize and accept that you will make mistakes at work- this is a normal part of life and learning in all parts of life, but especially in a work setting. When you make mistakes, learn from them instead of beating yourself up, take accountability, do not exaggerate the severity of the mistake, and move forward. Self-compassion involves giving yourself the kindness and understanding you would extend to others. Practicing self-compassion means giving yourself positive or even neutral self-talk rather than harmful negative self-talk; it also allows you time for self-care, fun, and happiness, even when mistakes do occur.
9. Seek Constructive Feedback: People who struggle with imposter syndrome often fear feedback because they take it as criticism or an attack on their abilities, resulting in self-doubt. It is important to shift your thinking on feedback in the workplace, because if it is truly taken for what it is, it can give you an accurate sense of how you are doing in your job position and career path from an outside perspective. You can then use this to challenge some of the extreme thinking or overly critical thoughts you may be having that stem from the Imposter Syndrome and look at your performance from a more objective point of view.10. Set Realistic Expectations for Yourself: Those with Imposter Syndrome often set unreasonably high expectations of themselves, which are unrealistic and nearly impossible to achieve. When they do not achieve these self-defined goals, it only reinforces these impostor syndrome beliefs more. Taking a clear, objective look at your current expectations for yourself, both within and outside your work role, is important. Write out and look at your expectations about your career path, finances, relationships, accomplishments, work-life balance, and time management, and examine how reasonable and realistic these goals are. If you recognize that these expectations are challenging to obtain at this time, consider shifting them to become more reasonable.
