What are you calling? imposter syndrome is not a syndrome, and it may not be the problem you think it is. In 1978, psychologists Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne Imes introduced the concept and deliberately called it a phenomenon of impostor rather than a syndrome. The difference between A syndrome and a event important to understand.
A event describes an observable experience that happens to enough people to merit better study and understanding. A syndrome refers to a diagnosable condition requiring intervention. When we add “syndrome” to the word “imposter,” we mean that it is clinically wrong in the person experiencing it.
Yet for most of the people I work with, not only is there nothing clinically “wrong” with them individually, but this feeling is often a sign that things are going right. In fact, it is a simple feeling that is presented as a problem all too often: discomfort.
Growth is uncomfortable
From what I’ve seen in their research and among my clients, it seems almost intuitive: the more confident and technically expert someone is, the more likely they are to experience imposterism (a term I personally prefer to use).
Imagine a doctor, researcher, professor, or senior lawyer surrounded by other high achievers, constantly striving for excellence. career It requires more and more experience and often in high-pressure roles in organizations, the bar continues to rise and the complexity never stops.
What did it feel like?
It felt like he didn’t know enough. As if you can be found out. Like everyone else, he’ll have more together than you. Like hiding what you don’t know and doing the same.
This feeling is not some diagnosable pathology. This is what growth actually feels like.
The transition from expert to leader complicates it
Now imagine the techies who chose to move leadership roles.
Leadership, team development and organizational dynamics are their areas of specialization. And yet, most technical professionals, as I mentioned earlier, get into leadership roles because they excel at their technical work, not through formal training. What no one tells them is that by moving into a leadership role, they are entering a new area of technical expertise: leadership, team and organizational development. These technical expert-leaders are expected to know how to manage people, develop strategy, make financial and resource decisions, manage competing demands without clear right answers, manage unknowns, delegate technical expertise, understand change management principles, and solve HR compliance and governance issues.
Thus, we are faced with a paradox: some of the most highly trained, educated, and skilled leadership professionals report the highest rates of fraud experience because they think they should already know. They have become experts over the years. Moving into a new field doesn’t change their expectations of what it takes to be an expert.
What would happen now? this do you feel like You are afraid of being considered an “incompetent” leader.
It is not unreasonable or unexpected that these leaders lack confidence. This is a clear experience of starting in a new field. The problem is not that they are inferior self confidence or not relevant to their role; it’s the lack of a roadmap and proper retraining.
Kark, Meister, and Peters (2021) found this species leadership imposterism especially common in “roles characterized by high expectations, high visibility, and high levels of responsibility.”
For women and marginalized others, feeling like a liar comes with the territory. How do you think you might feel if you were constantly told you didn’t belong and had to work twice as hard to get into the spaces you were told you didn’t belong in? You don’t belong and you’re not good enough (even if you are). This can have a negative impact on your confidence.
Essential Readings on Imposter Syndrome
When it is something more
Now, in some cases, this experience is really about chronic self-doubt or anxiety. The main thing is to know the difference because it is important to deal with it in the best way.
- Self-questioning is context-dependent, bounds to growth, and varies with skill development, perhaps more deception or intellectual humility.
- A persistent negative self-perception that permeates many areas of life, is disconnected from actual functioning, and does not change even with evidence of success may require therapeutic intervention.
What does this mean for you or your team?
In each of the above cases, the solution is not to label yourself, but to better understand what these experiences (or symptoms) indicate and may require, whether it’s simple processing, better coaching, therapy, coachingor leadership training.
If you are a coach, supervisor, or sponsor of someone who feels like a liar, here are a few things you can do:
- Don’t think of it as some kind of personal failure. Instead, help them manage their experience.
- Share personal experiences when you step into a leadership position and try new things or venture into new territories.
- Tell us about how you felt uncomfortable being promoted to a leadership role.
- Ask what will help them build their confidence and offer adequate and appropriate resources to do so.
Each of these small actions can be empowering rather than debilitating. And each of them requires that you be willing to be a little vulnerable to help someone else feel less vulnerable and alone in an all-too-common experience.
An extended version of this content will also appear The Hard Skills Podcast.
